Breathe Me
by horseaholic
Summary: Team One responds to a 20-something potential jumper. Spike connects with her and they become close. SpikeOC. Starts in S2. My first Flashpoint fanfic. Please Read and Review! Chapter 14 is up! Complete. Dedicated to AuntMingy.
1. Hot Call

_So this is my first Flashpoint fanfic. I just started watching the show on Netflix a month or two ago and am already caught up halfway through season 4, to where the availability stops after 4.07 (grrr! Such a Spike cliffhanger for me, GAH!) Can't wait to catch up over the summer, when my pre-ordered season 4 DVD arrives!_

_This fanfic is set within season 2, a week before "Last Dance," obviously pre-"One Wrong Move," because I love and miss Wordy and Lou too much not to have them around. It is also not-so-loosely based on the true story of my struggles with depression and anxiety over the last two years. So the first category is clearly drama, in its own way. Ask questions if you wish and I'll answer them either at the top of every future chapter or, if they are too personal, in a Private Message._

_From the moment I started watching Flashpoint (which was roughly a month or two ago, that's how fast I caught up, haha), Spike immediately became my favorite character. He's just so cute and I just love geeks (I mean, my favorite character on NCIS is McGee, so... come on, I'm a geek-loving girl, what can I say? Lol.) I also feel bad for him because he's so frequently alone, so that being said, the second category will probably be OC romance. I won't be offended if you choose not to read the story because of that, but I promise you, I will try to make her as little Mary-Sue as possible. But it is fanfic and I believe Spike doesn't get nearly the attention he so clearly deserves, and in more ways than one, I'm happy to oblige. =)_

_As to reviews, please do review, but as I'm new to the story and this category, please be thorough but gentle. Please overlook any geographical grievances, as I'm American and have never been to Toronto. Thanks. =)_

_Standard disclaimers apply. I'm a poor college student, graduating in a week and a half. Please don't sue me, I'm poor. :( But if Spike were mine... hehehe. Oh! Before I forget, I don't own any references to or borrowed from episode 1.04, "Asking for Flowers," or episode 4.06, "A Day in the Life." Nor do I own any references to or borrowed from NCIS episode "Leap of Faith" (5.05, one of my all-time favorite episodes.) But they helped this story get the chapter started._

_Here is Breathe Me (title credit goes to singer Sia... YouTube the lyrics and you will see just how closely they relate to the story.) So here we go._

**Breathe Me**

**Chapter 1**

* * *

May 1, 2009 seemed like it was just going to be a normal day for the SRU Team One. Everyone arrived to work at 5am and met in the bullpen to discuss the day's plans.

"Alright, we've got no calls yet, but the day is still young," said Sergeant Greg Parker. "And so, I'm going to call today a patrol day."

The team grinned; it was their favorite kind of day, next to days where they responded to hot calls, made the right decisions, saved lives, and kept the peace.

Spike let out a particularly loud whoop of excitement.

"All right," Wordy agreed, nodding in agreement.

"All right, so workouts then shift starts. We'll do a little Team One PR, let the city know we're here, keep the bad guys on their toes."

Ed, sitting next to Greg, smiled.

Spike raised his hand.

"Yeah, Spike?" Greg asked.

"Club district— me and Lou?" he asked. Greg didn't answer right away. "What?" Spike said, defending his reason for asking. "There's all kinds of trouble there all the time."

Greg nodded, knowing what Spike was onto. "Fine, patrol happy hour over there, all those very threatening young women in tube tops"— Jules smiled— "so just, uh, button up, huh? You and Lou— team Delta."

Spike looked down, then quickly buttoned his jacket. "Sorry."

"Be good, look good," Greg said, looking fondly at his team. "Jules," he said to her, who was also buttoning up her jacket, "still representing the force. Team Charlie with Sam. Eddie, Mr. Wordsworth, team Alpha?"

"East End, roving gangs of families, runaway strollers and whatnot," said Ed.

"Mhm, it's all yours," said Greg, raising his hand to stop Ed. "Sam, Jules, Team Bravo?"

"We'll take west," Jules volunteered immediately. She bent down closer to Sam, as she continued buttoning up. "I'm thinking chicken roti at Island Foods?"

"Hey, we'll take west," Spike piped up, hearing Jules mention the delicious Italian food.

"Uh-uh," Jules said.

"You got tube tops," Greg said, straight-faced.

"Yeah," Jules taunted him.

Greg clapped his hands together twice, then raised them encouragingly. "I'll be Echo solo. Let's go keep the peace."

Wordy quickly downed the rest of his cup of coffee, then followed Ed to the SUV.

However, despite the team being on patrol, it didn't take long for the hot call siren to start blaring. Winnie immediately fed them information.

"Team One, hot call. Subject's a jumper, female, 20's. Don Valley Parkway bridge."

"Gear up," said Greg, and the team immediately sprang into action.

On their way to the scene in the SUVs, Ed and Wordy up front, Sam and Jules behind, Spike and Lou following, closely followed by Greg, Ed asked questions.

"Is the area contained?"

"Negative," Winnie replied. "Cars on the overpass are stopped by unis. Traffic is moving freely below. Only Good Samaritan intervention so far was the 911 call."

"Winnie, what do we know about the subject?" Greg asked.

"Subject's female, 20's, speaks English, emotionally upset."

"That's it, huh?" Greg pondered.

Wordy's voice came over the radios. "Spike, send us all schematics on the Don Valley Parkway bridge."

"Copy that."

After a minute, Ed asked, "How high's the overpass?"

"97 feet," said Sam. "If the fall doesn't get her, the traffic will."

Ed sighed. "OK, Winnie, set up roadblocks. Let's get this highway shut down."

"Copy that," said Winnie.

A short while later, Team One arrived on the scene. Everyone got out of the SUVs and ran to meet up at the side of the bridge. The young woman stood about twenty feet away from them.

"OK, guys, we gotta contain this," Ed said, looking to his teammates for input.

Sam was first. "Wordy and I'll coordinate with the unis, get people back in their vehicles and the non-drivers off the bridge."

"Fast is good," Jules advised. "Maybe she abandoned a car. Let's find out who this woman is."

"I'll look for the car," said Greg. "Spike, you find out who this young lady is. Jules, you want lead on this?"

"Sure," said Jules.

"Connect, respect, protect," Greg said to the team.

Ed nodded. "OK, let's get this young lady home safe."

"Let's go," said Greg.

Meanwhile, Sam and Wordy had worked quickly to get people back in their cars and road blocks set up.

"Boss, this car's empty. Registration says it's titled out to an Adele Black," said Wordy.

"Boss, we can get a picture of her with our phone, send it through to DMV to confirm," Spike suggested.

"Only if we can get close enough," said Greg. "Jules?"

Jules stepped closer to the young woman, who was sitting on the barrier, her legs dangling precariously. One slight moment of imbalance and she would go over the edge and fall onto the highway and into the fast-moving traffic below.

"How're you doing?" Jules asked her. The woman didn't respond. Jules studied her quickly; she was pretty, with long ash-brown hair tied back in a severe ponytail. Jules could see, even from a distance, that she had vivid green eyes. She was wearing a greyish-blue T-shirt, brown pants, and brown Tevas sandals. "What's your name?"

"Stay away from me!" the woman shouted.

"I just want to talk," Jules said calmly.

The young woman shook her head nervously. "No!"

"It would be easier if I knew your name," said Jules.

The young woman squeezed her eyes shut, then yelled, "I said, leave me alone!"

"Jules, deescalate," Greg prompted her.

Jules closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then opened them. "Ma'am, are you planning on killing yourself today?" she asked. Jules focused hard on the young woman, then she caught the slightest nod. "Can I ask you what you're thinking? What brought you here today, ma'am?"

"I'm gonna be okay," the young woman said quietly.

Sam was a short distance away, talking to the uniformed Local Enforcement Officer in charge.

"So she hasn't mentioned anyone by name?"

The officer shook his head, then walked away. Sam went and got into one of the SVUs, trying to start establishing contact with a next-of-kin, a friend, a teacher, a coworker, anyone who might be able to help.

Suddenly the young woman stood up. Ed, seeing things start to escalate, ran over toward her.

"OK, let's just take a minute here!" Jules commanded, as calmly as she could.

"Ma'am, I wouldn't do that!" Ed yelled.

"Don't touch me, don't touch me!" the young woman yelled. "You touch me, I go down!"

"That's a decision you cannot take back, ma'am!" Jules called to her.

"I'm gonna do this my way," the young woman commanded, her voice strong.

"We're gonna give you some space, OK?" Jules said, pushing Ed and Spike back.

"Winnie," Spike said, "we got crowd control issues and a jumper who's accelerating. "Boss, phone time?"

"Do it," said Greg.

Jules took Spike's phone and held it up. The young woman glared at her.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, as Jules clicked the OK button and snapped the photo.

"You won't give us your name," said Ed. "We want to find out who you are."

Jules sent the photo message to Winnie, who started running it through the Toronto DMV.

"Jules, your photo matches to a driver's license whose name matches the vehicle's registration. Adele Black," said Winnie.

"What's it mean?" Jules asked Spike quietly.

Without question, Spike quickly entered the name into his PDA.

"It's German. 'Soft, tender,'" said Spike.

"According to her birth certificate, her middle name is Karis," said Winnie. "Greek for 'grace.'"

"OK, Jules, don't react: respond," said Greg.

"Your name, Adele," said Jules. "Do you remember my name? It's Jules. Adele— it's German for 'soft,' 'tender.' And Karis means 'grace' in Greek." Adele wouldn't look at Jules. "Adele, please look at me. I bet you're a real nice person. I'm sure you have friends who love you and care about you. Are you from here?" Adele nodded. "Does your family live here?"

"Affirmative, Jules," said Sam. "Her dad's address is listed as Harbour Front, off Queen's Quey East. Mom's address is listed as Keele Street."

"Do you want to talk to your family, Adele?" Jules asked.

"No."

"I bet they're worried about you," said Jules.

"My dad and stepmom don't care."

"What do you mean?" Jules asked.

"They don't care what I'm going through, that I'm in pain; how I feel when I'm alone at night. That my friendships are diminishing every day," said Adele. Suddenly, she seemed to realize she'd said too much. She shook her head, then snapped, "Look, you're not gonna get to know me, alright? So don't act like you understand or like what I say matters. Just leave me alone and let me do this."

"I can't do that, Adele. I want to understand why you want to do this. I want to help. I only want to help."

"I don't think she's hearing ya," said Spike. "It's time to take the gloves off. You try 'reality check'?"

"OK." Jules quickly hooked herself to the bridge with a grapple, climbed on and straddled the barrier.

"So you wanna jump?" Adele nodded. "Do you want me to tell you what actually happens? I can tell you, cuz I've seen it. I can tell you what happens when your body smacks to the ground and your skull explodes. Do you wanna hear about that?"

Adele was silent, so Jules went on.

"You wanna know what's even worse? What's even worse is you might not die when your body hits the cement. And your family, and if you have kids, they're gonna see it. What's left of you, and they're gonna have to live with what's left of you. That's not what you want, is it?"

Spike caught Adele's gaze sliding toward Jules, although she did not turn her head.

"She's hearing ya. She's getting the picture," he said.

"Jules," Sam said, "I've got Charlotte Cavanaugh on the line. She's a college friend of Adele's. Stand by." As instructed, Jules waited. After a minute or so, Sam came back over the radio. "OK, Charlotte says no drugs for Adele, Adele is a social drinker, and she's employed. She just graduated college recently with a liberal arts degree. Active in music, loves horses, acts in musicals, great singer. She cashiers at Safeway and dreams of one day grooming and exercise riding horses for a living. Sounds like a good kid."

Jules nodded, absorbing this information quickly.

"Hey, I've got a suicide note. She's apologizing to someone. 'Sorry I wasn't good enough, in so many ways. Sorry I didn't know where I was going in life. I spent so much time trying to please everyone else, help them, and make sure they were happy and OK, that I could no longer please or help myself or take care of myself. I only wish it was enough'."

"I'm tired of being in pain," said Adele. Jules immediately returned her attention to the young woman. "I'm tired of the intense loneliness; of people not choosing to spend time with me because they want to, but instead, because they feel obligated to, to not hurt my feelings; of only feeling any emotion toward animals anymore; of losing interest in things I used to love. You hear little, off-handed remarks about how you're 'helpless,' 'worthless,' 'hopeless.' In your mind, you know it's a joke and on the outside, you laugh and it's funny for real, but then, in your heart, you hear it so, so often that it builds up and after you hear it enough, you start to believe it and it's not funny anymore."

"Who tells you that, Adele?" Jules asked her. "You can tell me. I'm not going to lie to you, Adele. You haven't lied to me, either."

"My dad, Jules," said Adele. "The one man whom I grew up thinking was golden, perfect. It took me 17 of my 22 years to realize what a stubborn, controlling ass he is, even though I love him to death. My mom knows how our relationship is off and on, but there's nothing she can do to help, because she went through this, too, before they divorced. I wouldn't want to be married to him, either. I'm glad I'm not, but honestly, I don't always consider my stepmom to be the right woman for him, either. My stepmom, my mom, my stepsister, me, we all have depression, anxiety. Who's the common denominator?"

"She mentioned her parents are divorced. This is depression, not impulse. Shift focus away from the pain," said Spike.

Jules held up a clean blue handkerchief. "Here, wipe your tears with this handkerchief," she said. "I'm not going to touch you or hurt you. We are not going to force you to come down."

Adele did not take the handkerchief. Instead, she said, "I'm done here."

"You're not done here!" Jules said firmly.

"I just... I'm done," Adele said.

"You know what your family is gonna think, if you do this, Adele?" Jules asked firmly. "Your mom, your dad. I know you're mad at your dad and you feel like talking to him hasn't helped, but that doesn't mean anyone wants you dead. You're at a point in your life where things are rough, because things are changing. It's not worth taking your life. Do you hear me? It's not worth losing your life."

"Jules," said Sam, "Charlotte says Adele has a twin sister, Kate. Lives at Open HMA— Hearts, Minds, Arms— Group Home here in Toronto. She has cerebral palsy. She's been a full-time permanent resident there for three years, since their dad was hit by a van riding his motorcycle and was seriously injured. While he eventually fully recovered, while he was recovering, he couldn't care for Kate full-time anymore, so the decision was made to place her in the home. It turned out to be the best decision for Kate and her family."

"Your sister?" Jules asked Adele. "Adele, look at me." Adele looked at Jules. "They're gonna be confused and mad and upset and then they're gonna have guilt and they're gonna think it's their fault. And they're gonna wonder what they did wrong. What didn't they do? What about your sister, will she even understand at all? Will she know where you went and that you're never coming back? Huh? You want that?"

Adele stood there for a long moment, silent. Then she asked, "If I come down, will I have to see my parents?"

"No, Adele," said Jules. "You're an adult. You have the right not to see them or talk to them, unless you decide you're ready and you want to. OK?"

After another very long moment, to the team's immense relief, Adele stepped back, then stepped off the barrier. Spike rushed forward and grabbed her securely around the waist, as she dissolved into tears and crumpled to the ground.

"I'm sorry... I'm so, so sorry..."

"No, no, no, it's OK," said Jules, holding her close. "You don't have to say that."

"Subject's been contained," said Spike. "Stand by for decision to contact family."

"Copy that," said Greg.

"I'm sorry, Jules. It was so stupid," Adele cried.

"You got nothing to be sorry about, my friend. Nothing, all right?" Jules said firmly, holding one arm around Adele's midsection and the other around her head in a hug.

Spike offered his hand and helped both Jules and Adele stand up. Once she was standing safely on the ground, he pulled her into a hug. He could feel her body shaking with unshed sobs. She inhaled his sweet scent through his suit. When he released her, she looked up at him through puffy, bloodshot, exhausted eyes.

"I'm Mike," said Spike.

"Adele," she said.

"Yeah, I know," he said, giving her a sideways cheeky grin.

Adele chuckled.

"Aha," said Spike, "there it is."

"What?" Adele asked.

"A smile," said Spike.

Adele smiled again, stronger this time.

Greg and Ed came over to where Jules, Spike, and Adele stood.

"Adele, this is Greg and Ed, our sergeant and Team Leader," said Spike.

"Hi," said Ed, nodding and smiling warmly.

"Hi, Adele," said Greg. "Thank you for coming down off the barrier. You made the right choice today." He smiled. "It's gonna be okay."

"We're gonna take you back to Headquarters and get you something to eat and drink, and then we're gonna just talk some more, okay?" Ed asked her.

Adele nodded. She followed Spike to the truck and climbed in after him. Jules climbed in and sat beside her, as was protocol.

Greg's voice came over the radio as they drove back to SRU Headquarters.

"Great job out there today, everyone, especially Spike, Jules. We saved Adele's life. We kept the peace. Well done, everyone."

Jules, who was driving, noticed Adele had fallen asleep with her head on Spike's chest. Spike smiled and blushed.

"She really connected with you, didn't she?" Jules asked him.

"Yeah, she did," Spike said. "She connected with you, too, though."

"Yeah, but not like that," said Jules, inclining her head toward the sleeping young woman.

Spike smiled, then stared determinedly at the road in front of him.

* * *

_Adele's name comes from the 2000 Jim Carrey movie, The Majestic, which I really enjoyed when I watched it recently for the first time— not the British pop singer, just to clarify._

_I hope it doesn't resemble the borrowed episodes too much. I tried to alter things a bit to avoid that; I did the best I could._

_Please review. Thanks._


	2. Protection Detail

_Thank you to AuntMingy, Angelinsydney, Anais, Keeper of Oz, mdt9832, and Sarahwrites for reviewing so far! Your feedback was most encouraging. And it came (for the most part) on a day I needed it the most; the day I helped a dear friend bury her newborn son, who was born three and a half months premature and only lived three hours. Monday was a very difficult day for me, especially for her and her fiancé, and for everyone involved. I cried for probably six hours straight._

_Aside from that, I've had to help around the house, preparing for my college graduation party tomorrow (er... today, Sunday, lol), and I'm in the process of finding a full-time job. Ugh, real life! So I'm fairly busy, but still trying to write for y'all._

_To all of you, here is chapter 2. Enjoy._

**Chapter 2**

* * *

A short while later, Team One arrived back at Headquarters. At the truck's stopping moving, Adele shifted slightly, but did not waken.

"Spike," said Ed, into Spike's ear. "Take her into the boss' office and let her sleep for a while. She's had a tough day."

"Copy," Spike said quietly.

With Jules' help, he carried Adele into Greg's office and laid her down on the couch. He gently coaxed a small pillow underneath her head and laid a warm blanket over her. Then he went and sat in Greg's chair and, placing his head in his hands, tried to think.

"Spike, you OK?" Jules asked quietly.

Spike jumped. "Huh? Oh... yeah, I'm OK, Jules. Can you ask the boss to postpone debriefing for a few hours? I want to make sure Adele's OK."

"Sure," Jules said, and she made to leave the room.

A moment later, however, Spike changed his mind. "Actually, Jules, could you watch her for a second?" he asked. "I need to... go shower."

With the puzzled look Jules gave him, Spike knew she knew better. But he just needed a few moments alone to truly think, to get himself under control.

"I just... I need a few minutes alone, to process?"

Jules nodded. "Sure, Spike," she said. "Go. I'll watch her until you get back."

"Thank you, I won't be long," Spike said, before leaving the room.

He made straight for the locker room, which, while he knew it would not be empty, with Greg, Ed, Wordy and Lou there, at least he could have a slightly easier time clearing his mind without Adele in his field of vision.

The guys acknowledged him when he entered, but aside from a slight nod, he brushed them off. Feeling foolish, he stripped down, grabbed a fresh towel, hung it on the hook next to the shower, stepped into the shower, and forcefully swung the curtain closed.

He turned the water on full-blast, taking a moment to adjust it to his preferred hot temperature. He let the hot stream slowly work out the knots his back and shoulders had acquired so far that day, and tried to let his mind wander. But it kept coming back to Adele.

Spike felt strange, in a way he couldn't quite explain. He hesitantly agreed that Jules was right, that he and Adele had some kind of connection. But was it just a coincidence or did it go a little deeper than that? Was he really already feeling slightly attracted to her?

Had Adele really wanted to kill herself? Spike wondered. Or was she just crying out for help in the only way she thought she had left? Was she really, as Jules had said on the bridge, at a difficult point in her life and feeling lost?

Spike didn't know why, but he felt compelled to find out.

Meanwhile, in Greg's office, Adele woke up. Not knowing where she was, she sat up sharply.

"Whoa, easy, Adele, you're okay," said Ed, walking over toward her. "Remember me? I'm Ed."

Adele nodded.

"You're at SRU Headquarters. You're safe. Mind if I sit down?" Ed asked. "Remember, we said we were just gonna sit and talk."

Adele looked up at him, then immediately lowered her gaze. She looked at the couch space next to her, then nodded.

Ed sat down next to her, but not too close, as he did not want to make her uncomfortable.

"Where's Mike?" she asked.

"Spike's freshening up in the shower, but he'll be here soon," said Jules.

"How do you know that?" Lou asked.

"Because I know everything," Jules teased him. Lou grinned.

A moment later, Spike entered the room, dressed in jeans and a light grey T-shirt.

"Mike," Adele said, smiling at the sight of him. "Hi."

"Hey, Adele," he said. "How was your nap? Did these guys get you anything to eat or drink yet?"

"Not yet, I just woke up," said Adele.

"Spike, why don't you do official introductions?" Ed asked.

"Alright," Spike said. "Adele, you already know me and that is Jules, the only girl on our team and tough as nails. The big bad bald guy you're sitting next to is Ed, our Team Leader."

"I remember," Adele said, as the team chuckled.

"And you remember Greg, our sergeant," Spike said, indicating to Greg. He fondly rubbed the top of Greg's head, making the sergeant grin.

Adele smiled.

Then he pointed at Sam, Wordy, and Lou. "And that's Sam, Lou, and Kevin. But we call him Wordy."

"Why do you all call him Spike?" Adele asked the team.

"Because of his spiky hair," Sam said, coming up behind Spike and petting the top of his head.

"Hey, knock it off, Sam," Spike said, laughing and swatting Sam's hand away.

"Boss, what do you say we reconvene to the break room?" Ed suggested. "More room to eat and drink."

Greg nodded. "Good idea, Eddie."

Adele looked nervous, so Spike smiled and held out his hand encouragingly. She took it and they walked down to the break room, followed by the rest of the team. They entered and sat down in big comfortable conference chairs situated around a long table.

"Adele, what do you want to drink, to eat?" Spike asked, before he sat down. "We've got both Pepsi and Coke product vending machines and a vending machine with water in it."

"Mountain Dew, please," said Adele.

Spike inserted 40 cents into the machine and got her a cold can of Mountain Dew.

"Oh, Spike," Adele said, embarrassed, "I didn't know you had to pay for it..."

"Puh-_leaze_," Wordy said, laughing, "little monkey could hack into it in a second if he wanted to."

Spike smirked. "Please, Adele, it's on the house," he said.

Adele smiled appreciatively, then cracked open the can.

Everyone else got what they wanted, then Spike sat down next to Adele at the table.

"What should we all get to eat, boss?" Spike asked. "Pizza? Subs? Sandwiches? Chinese?"

The team groaned at the last suggestion; there had been many occurrences of spoiled, rancid Chinese food in the break room, due to getting hot calls in the middle of breaks or lunch hour. It wasn't something the team liked to recall.

"OK, so Chinese is out," Spike said, rolling his eyes. "Thanks, guys, I really wanted General Tso's. Pizza?"

The team glanced at each other, waiting for objections, then nodded simultaneously.

"Adele, what kind of pizza is your favorite?" Greg asked, grabbing a phone to call in the order.

"Pepperoni and sausage, please," said Adele.

"Pepperoni and sausage, coming right up," said Greg. "Everybody, what do you want?"

The team told Greg what they wanted and he placed the order.

"Alright, pizza's on its way," said Greg, after he hung up the phone.

As they waited for the pizza, they started talking to Adele. At first, they talked about a variety of things; clothing, music, TV, Harry Potter, and Adele's hobbies.

Spike was particularly thrilled to hear Adele enjoyed playing Mario Bros. on her old Nintendo Entertainment System with her dad.

"Best video game trilogy ever," Spike said, high-fiving her. "Let's play sometime?"

"You will never beat me," Adele said, grinning.

"O-ho!" Jules said, smiling. "I think there's a challenge in there, Spike."

Spike smiled. "Challenge accepted."

Adele grinned and blushed.

Eventually, the pizza arrived and everyone ate to their fill. Once everyone had eaten what they wanted, Greg caught Spike's eye and nodded in Adele's direction. Spike swallowed the bite of pizza he was chewing, then shifted closer to Adele.

"Adele, we need to talk now. You know that, right?" Spike asked her.

Adele sighed, then nodded. "I know," she said.

"We need to talk about different things," Spike said, as he got himself another Diet Coke. "Is that okay?"

"Yes," Adele said quietly, lowering her gaze, "it's okay."

Spike glanced at Ed, who nodded, which told Spike he should take the lead on this, since Adele was clearly most comfortable talking to him and Jules.

"First, I'm going to ask you, do you feel suicidal, right now?" Spike asked.

Adele shook her head. "No."

"Why do you think that is?" Spike asked. "No one is going to judge you for anything you say. Anything goes."

"I guess, because... I feel safe," said Adele, "with all of you. I know you will protect me... even from myself. I have this weird... desire."

"What desire?"

"I... I like being taken care of."

"You mean by your family?"

"No," said Adele. "I mean, when I'm feeling bad or when I'm physically hurt, by EMTs, policemen, firemen, nurses... I'm not picky." Spike nodded, indicating for her to go on. "I don't intentionally harm myself for attention, though. It's not like that. When I wrecked my car three years ago, I felt immediately attracted to the primary EMT who was caring for me in the ambulance. I wasn't badly hurt, but I had gotten scraped up pretty good and had a couple minor burns from the airbag. It was all just protocol, and he kept apologizing, saying it was overkill, but I didn't care. I don't remember his name, although I could maybe guess at it. I just remember his voice. And I had always been friends with the security force at my high school, because they allowed me to feel safe."

"We're glad to hear about what makes you safe, Adele," said Greg. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to be taken care of when you're hurt."

Adele nodded. Spike went on. "Have you ever thought about hurting yourself, Adele?"

Adele nodded again. "I think about it all the time, cutting myself, slitting my wrists, overdosing on pills, jumping... But I'd never follow through. Today was the first time."

"When you would think about it before, did you have means to do it?" Spike asked.

"I have a penknife a friend gave to me. I have a sedative I take to help me sleep."

"Does it help you sleep?" Spike asked.

"Yes."

"That's good, that's very good," said Spike. "When we were on the bridge, you mentioned that 'your dad and stepmom don't care'. What did you mean?"

"I've had back pain since I was twelve," said Adele, "since a sledding accident. I was on a freshly waxed sled and took the hill too fast and went back-first into a generator at the bottom of the hill. I didn't break anything, I just got the wind knocked out of me. But my back has bothered me ever since. My mom knew about it back then, but we didn't think it would escalate to this.

"I've had chronic all-over pain since high school and my parents see no reason to get it checked out and taken care of, because they think I did it to myself. Like, when you use the computer too much, like I do, 'you get carpal tunnel and arthritis.'"

Spike nodded.

"Why do I have to justify getting medical attention, Spike? Why am I not allowed to take care of myself?"

Spike didn't know what to say. He looked around at the others helplessly. Ed, seeing this, jumped in.

"Adele, I want to ask you about the suicide note. It's strictly protocol. Is that okay?" Ed asked.

Adele nodded, so Ed continued.

"In it, you said you were apologizing. Why do you feel you needed to apologize?" he asked.

"I've never felt like I've been good enough for anyone," Adele said, tears forming in her eyes. "I never decided on a specific major in college, so I decided to get a liberal arts degree. My dad never really approved, as much as he claimed to be in support of it."

Ed nodded, and Adele went on.

"I've never had a boyfriend and I always thought that was my fault. I've always been an obsessive fixer," she said, "making sure everyone else was happy with me and okay in their lives. I gave so much hope to everyone else, that I kept none for myself." Her voice lowered to a whisper. "I only wish it was enough. A person can't live their life like that. I finally decided I had had enough."

"I understand, Adele," Spike said. "But do you think, just maybe, you should call them to tell them you're OK?"

Adele chewed her lip, giving herself time to think. Then she sighed. "Alright, I'll do it."

"Good," Spike said, smiling.

The team waited in silence, as Adele punched in a speed-dial, to call her parents.

"Dad... I'm going to be staying with some friends for a few days. I just wanted you to know."

The team couldn't hear what her father said on the other end, but it became fairly clear after a moment. Adele's face clouded over with anger, then she yelled and chucked her phone against the wall, before dissolving into tears. She laid her head on Spike's shoulder and sobbed.

"Why did you have to stop me, Spike?" Adele cried. "Nothing's changed, since I couldn't just do it."

"Adele, I'm sorry your dad didn't react the way you wanted him to," said Spike. "But it's over now. You're an adult. You don't need to keep checking in with them. You can do what you want." Adele nodded. "We need to figure out somewhere for you to stay."

"I have my own place," Adele said. "I just visit my parents one day a weekend. I lived in the dorms all four years and found an apartment soon after graduating."

"We would like to have someone stay with you for a while, to make sure you stay safe," said Ed. "Do you have friends you could stay with? We talked to Charlotte on the phone, at the bridge. Could you stay with her?"

"She lives in Winnipeg," Adele said, shaking her head.

"Is there anyone else we could call for you?" Spike asked. "Other friends or family in the area?"

"My friend Erin, but she's visiting friends in Halifax," said Adele.

"Why can't she just stay with one of us?" Spike asked.

"Could I?" Adele asked.

The members of Team One looked at each other awkwardly.

"Um... listen, Adele..." said Greg. "Could you, could you give us a few minutes to talk this over?"

Adele looked nervous, but she said, "OK. I'll, um, just be right outside."

Greg nodded. "Thanks. We won't be but a minute."

Adele nodded, then stepped out of the break room. The team waited until she had closed the door behind her before starting to talk.

"Boss, she can't stay with one of us," said Ed. "It's totally unorthodox. She's doing better, but she's still a subject."

"Guys, she has no friends or other family in the area," Spike interjected, "and she doesn't want to go home. What are we supposed to do, kick her out to the street?"

"Well, Spike, we don't see you piping up to take her in under your wing," said Sam, "even though that's clearly what she would prefer."

"Guys, I can't take her to my place. My mom is a little too weird for her right now," Spike stammered.

The rest of the team restrained their chuckles with difficulty; Spike did kind of have a point.

"What if one of us stayed with her for a while, instead of the other way around?" Jules asked. "I heard her say she has her own place. It would be strictly a professional follow-up."

Greg quietly considered this for a moment. "It's a good idea, Jules," he said. "And it wouldn't have to be for very long, just a few days, maybe a week."

Jules nodded.

"Spike," said Greg, "you're obviously the one with whom she is most comfortable with. Are you up for it?"

Spike nodded. "Yeah," he said.

"Good," said Greg. "Go ahead and get her, Spike, and we'll make arrangements with her."

Spike went and brought Adele back into the break room. As she sat down beside him, Greg said, "Alright, Adele, we've come to a decision. But we want your input on it."

Adele, looking both curious and nervous, nodded for him to go on.

"We'd like to assign one of us to stay with you, as sort of a protective detail, when not on hot calls or overnight stakeout or stings."

Adele's eyebrows rose. "Oh," she said, "okay. Protection from... myself."

"It's strictly going to be viewed as a professional follow-up to your incident," Greg explained, although he nodded at her previous statement. "If it's alright with you, Spike has volunteered to do this."

Adele looked at Spike, who smiled and blushed. "Fine with me," she said; not too quickly, she hoped.

"Alright, then Spike, you get together what you need for, say, the weekend," said Greg. "You can always get more stuff if we decide to go longer on this."

Spike nodded. "Copy that."

"Thanks, Greg," said Adele. "I really appreciate this."

Greg nodded. "Keep us posted."

"I will."

"Good. It's gonna be OK," Greg said, smiling at her.

* * *

Spike looked around curiously, as Adele's apartment door swung open.

Her apartment was small, but cute. It was about 300 square feet. Her sleeping area was on the north side of the apartment. She had a queen-sized bed, dresser, and a good-sized bookshelf in her bedroom. A closet in the short hallway adjoined the bedroom with the kitchen and living room area. On the south end of the apartment, in the living room area, sat a large Ottoman chair, a standard-sized rocking chair, a TV, DVD player, DVR, and a small folding kitchen table with two chairs against the kitchen counter on the opposite wall. It smelled of freshly laundered linens, caramel and vanilla.

Spike also noticed she had two large forest-green bean bags in her bedroom, tucked against her bookshelf.

"It's not much," Adele said, "but it's home."

"I think it's awesome," Spike said.

Adele blushed and smiled. "Thanks, Spike. I'm afraid I don't have anywhere for you to sleep... except maybe an air mattress on the floor or the bean bags," she said, embarrassed.

"Air mattress is fine, Adele," said Spike. "Don't worry, OK? I'm used to roughing it. Protection detail is never glamorous— not that this _is_ protection detail, but you get my drift."

Adele nodded. She went to her closet and dragged out the air mattress, folded up in its plastic zipped case, off the top shelf. Spike helped her inflate it, then she got him a mattress cover, bottom sheet, comforter and a spare pillow from the closet.

"Would you like some cider or anything?" Adele asked, after Spike had gotten his sleeping area settled in the living room. "I like to have some hot apple cider in the evening. It helps me to wind down."

"That'd be lovely, thank you," said Spike, smiling at her.

Adele went to the kitchen side of her living room area and got two cups out of the cupboard. She heated water for 45 seconds in the microwave, then poured in the cider mix and mixed it around with a spoon. She handed Spike his cup, then waited to drink from hers until he had had a taste from his.

He sipped from his cup, careful not to burn his mouth on the hot liquid. He smacked his lips together appreciatively. "This is wonderful," he said.

"Good," Adele said, smiling. "My dad has it shipped from Winnipeg and gives me a bunch. I love it and I personally would never go through a winter without it."

Spike nodded.

"Did you want to, um, watch a movie or something?" Adele asked. She felt honestly clueless, as to if she was even obligated to interact with her 'protection detail' at all, or not.

"Sure, what have you got?" Spike asked, sipping his cider.

"Um..." Adele went over to her bookshelf, which also held some movies. "Not a lot, really; I really only own movies that I love and can bear to watch over and over. Is 'National Treasure' OK?"

"Yeah," Spike said.

They took their cups of cider into the living room area and settled down to watch the movie, Adele in her Ottoman chair and Spike in the rocking chair.

Ben and Riley had barely stolen the Declaration of Independence when Spike noticed Adele had fallen asleep. He placed one arm under her knees and his other arm carefully around her head and neck and carried her into her bedroom.

Adele stirred when he placed her in her bed, but she did not wake. Spike quietly left the room, leaving the door ajar behind him. He laid down on the air mattress and quickly dozed off.

Not much later, he awoke to the sound of Adele yelling. Spike got up and quickly went into her bedroom to check on her. She was thrashing around on her bed, having a nightmare.

Spike sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled her upright to a sitting position. Still consumed in her nightmare, Adele's fists pounded his chest and shoulders.

"Adele! Adele! Adele, wake up, wake up!"

Adele jolted awake, terrified of what she had just envisioned in her mind. Her eyes, wide and white with fear, looked around briefly, before coming to rest on Spike's figure. She threw her arms around Spike's strong frame, shaking, shivering, and almost crying with fear.

"Adele, what was your dream about?" Spike asked, panting slightly along with her breathlessness.

"I was back at the bridge, Spike... I... I slipped... Ed, Jules, and you tried to grab me, but... you missed... I fell. I woke up before I hit the pavement," Adele cried.

Spike wrapped his arms around her and they hugged close. "It's alright," he said. "It was a nightmare. You're safe now."

Adele nodded against Spike's chest. Eventually, her breathing slowed and she calmed down.

"Are you OK now?" Spike asked.

Adele swallowed her, then nodded. "I guess so," she said.

She lay down on her bed again and Spike tucked the covers up around her shoulders. He made to leave, but before he could take a step, he felt her gentle hand grasp his. He turned and looked down at her.

"Please stay," she said quietly.

Spike hesitated. "Adele... I can't."

"Please," she begged him. "I will feel better with you here."

Spike rubbed his face with his hands, giving himself a moment to think.

_Greg and Ed are gonna kill me when they find out_, he thought to himself. Because he knew Greg and Ed always found out, one way or another.

"Alright," he said, "I'll stay."

"Thank you."

Still feeling apprehensive, Spike climbed into bed next to her. He scooted close to her and put his right arm over her, holding her close, and a short while later, they both fell asleep.

* * *

_And now, since it's almost 1:30am and I am tired and I have a graduation party tomorrow afternoon and probably shouldn't exactly sleep until Noon (I have been doing so for three days; it's been great! Oh, summer...), I should probably head to bed._

_Before I do, however, I wanted to ask, would any of my readers/viewers like to beta for me? Let me know in a review or PM me and we'll get the ball rolling. =)_

_Goodnight, all, and please review to tell me what you thought! Thanks and Happy Mother's Day!_


	3. A Day in the City

_Thanks for the reviews and graduation well wishes, everyone. My party was quite satisfying. Not quite viciously job hunting yet, as I'm having eye surgery a week from today and can't exactly start working until after I've recovered from that._

_Thanks so much, AuntMingy, for letting me know when the Flashpoint Team One Sunday marathon was going on! I was able to catch all but Priority of Life and Slow Burn (which they didn't air), so I bought them on ITunes! Ha! __I am definitely gonna buy my other favorite episodes via ITunes, too, as soon as I can! Can't wait! Blue on Blue was AMAZING! I don't think I took a breath the last ten minutes of the episode. Favorite! Ahhh! And OMG, the last ten minutes of both Priority of Life and Slow Burn? FREAKING BAWL FEST!_

_Ahem. Sorry. Moving on..._

_Anais, from what Google tells me, the syndrome you're thinking of is Munchausen syndrome. But I wouldn't jump to that conclusion about Adele. No one chooses to feel that way; even Munchausen syndrome sufferers are so sick they don't even know it, which is sad and unfortunate. But I definitely don't discredit you for considering it or anything. But that__ day was Adele's first and only suicide attempt (failed or otherwise.) But you asked about that, so I just wanted to clarify. :)_

_Here is chapter 3. Enjoy!_

**Chapter 3**

* * *

"Spike."

"Hm?" Spike mumbled, waking from a deep sleep.

"Hey, Spike! _Spike!_"

Spike slowly crawled out of bed, trying his best not to wake Adele. He put on his headset and quickly left the bedroom.

"You're up," he mumbled.

"Since zero-three," said Ed. "Spike, what the hell are you doing?"

"Sorry, Ed," Spike murmured, knowing that, while the team didn't have eyes in Adele's apartment, he had literally been sleeping on the job. He made his way over to the kitchen counter. "Long night..."

"What happened?" Ed asked. "We assumed no news was good news."

"Nothing happened," Spike replied. "She had a nightmare at one point, that's all."

"Mm, well, considering what she went through, that's not unexpected," said Ed.

"Uh-huh," Spike agreed grumpily, as he poured fresh grounds into the coffee filter, poured in water, and turned on the pot to start percolating the coffee.

"How are you doing?" Ed asked.

"M'fine," Spike mumbled. "Instant human: just add coffee."

Ed chuckled. "Copy that. So what's the plan for today?"

"Not sure," said Spike. "I'm gonna let her sleep."

"Copy. While you're caffeinating and she's sleeping, think of things to do to keep her occupied and happy. Remember, this isn't protection detail, per se. You can do things for fun."

"You... wanna run that by me again, Eddie?" Spike asked, certain he had misheard.

"You're allowed to do normal things. You're not under house arrest."

"Sweet!" said Spike, and his imagination immediately sprang into action. "Copy. I'll be in touch."

"Copy that."

Spike got the newspaper from outside the apartment door and sat down at Adele's small kitchen table to read it, while he drank his coffee.

A short time later, Adele came into the kitchen.

"Hey, good morning," she said, running her hand down Spike's shoulder.

"Good morning," Spike said, standing and giving her a hug. "How did you sleep?"

"Good, with you there," said Adele, smiling. Inwardly, Spike flinched, wondering if Ed had heard over the headset. "No more nightmares."

"Good," Spike said, smiling. "So I checked in with Ed and he says that, since this _technically_ isn't protection detail, we can go out and have fun."

"Really, like doing what?" Adele asked.

"Well, I don't know. We could go do karaoke, go for a walk, play Mario Bros., watch movies, go to an amusement park..." Spike suggested, grinning.

"You've had a while to think about this, haven't you?" Adele teased him.

Spike chuckled. "Uh, just a little," he admitted, grinning.

"Well, it sounds like fun," said Adele. "Is it just you on protection detail?"

"Eddie or Jules might trade off with me later," said Spike. Adele's expression fell. "But... I don't see that happening, since I volunteered for it and you're doing fine."

"Thanks, Spike," said Adele. "I feel good with you here."

"I'm glad. We have faith in you, you know," Spike told her softly.

Adele smiled, then she walked away and wrapped her arms around herself.

"Well, someone needs to love me when I least deserve it," she said quietly.

Spike came over and turned her around, held her arms firmly in his hands, looked her straight in the eye, and said, "Adele, you stop that right now. Don't you dare feel ashamed of the way you felt, the way you are still feeling. When you feel like how you just said, that's when you need it most."

Adele looked into his warm brown eyes, quite aware of just how close they stood to each other. Then she nodded. Spike pulled her into a hug, then released her.

"OK, now that we've got that settled, are you ready to eat something and we'll start our day?" he asked.

Adele nodded and smiled.

"Do you want some coffee?" Spike asked.

"No, thank you," said Adele. "I don't drink coffee."

"So why do you...?" Spike inquired, his voice trailing off.

"So I can provide refreshments to my guests," Adele said, smiling coyly at him, as she went to open some cupboards.

Spike smiled appreciatively. Already, he felt his usual guard being dropped when he was around her.

"There's a cute little coffee bar down the street that serves awesome breakfast, too," said Adele. "Would you like to go?"

"Sure," Spike said, smiling.

"Alright," said Adele. "Um... is it OK if I freshen up first?"

"Yeah, of course," said Spike.

"And you, um, can, too," Adele said awkwardly, blushing.

"Noted," Spike said, nodding. "Take your time."

Adele smiled, then went into her bedroom. She came out with a fresh set of clothing and went into the bathroom to get ready. About twenty minutes later, she rejoined him in the kitchen.

"Hey," said Spike, smiling. "Wow, you look fantastic."

Adele was wearing a white lacy spaghetti strap A-line dress, with lacy elbow-length sleeves and a solid, white torso-length slip underneath, with a deep maroon-colored empire waist belt.

Adele smiled. "Thanks," she said.

Spike leapt up from his chair. "I won't be long," he said, as he went by her and dashed off to get ready himself.

Adele giggled and shook her head, thoroughly amused. She prepared some chamomile tea and drank it while she waited for him.

She barely fought back her giggles when he came back out, wearing—

"White shirt, suit jacket, and... jeans?" she asked him, looking at him, puzzled.

Spike looked down at himself, then at her. "Too grungy?"

"Actually," Adele said, giggling, "I like it. Untucked shirt and all."

Spike smiled. "Good. Shall we?"

Adele smiled. "Yes, we shall."

Spike took her hand and together, they walked down to the café. Along the way, Spike was pleased with how easily conversation flowed between the two of them. They never seemed to run out of things to say. He talked about his mother and still living at home, about when he had joined the team in 2005, and how he had acquired all his computer skills.

Adele talked about her complete love and passion for horses and dogs, that she absolutely loved to sing, and that she had been playing the piano for 15 years, since she was eight years old.

"Will you play for me sometime?" Spike asked.

"Yes," said Adele. "Find me a grand piano and I will."

Spike grinned. "Are you... particular about your pianos?"

"Particular? Yes. Snobby? Absolutely," Adele said, smiling at him. "I never get enough quality time with a grand or baby grand."

"I'll keep that in mind," said Spike, smiling.

Adele also loved to hike and do yoga and kickboxing.

"Maybe I can talk to the boss and see if we can borrow a training room for a few hours," said Spike.

"Sure," said Adele, smiling. "Tell him to bring the team with him."

"Alright," Spike said excitedly. "What's your favorite book?"

"Ooh, tough one," said Adele. "Of course, the Harry Potter series will always hold a special place in my heart. But most recently, I finished Nora Roberts' _Angels Fall _and Michele Jaffe's _Rosebush_. Roberts' book is like modern western meets mystery plus suspense plus thriller. Jaffe's book is mystery and suspenseful. Both of them kept me on my toes at all times and I never saw the end coming. I never figured out who the killer was, before the author told me. I liked them a lot. How about you?"

"I just finished _White Noise _by Don DeLillo," Spike answered. "While I wouldn't call it a timeless classic, I would call it an 'all-time-since classic.'"

"'All that is necessary for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing,'" Adele said.

Spike was surprised and impressed. "That's my favorite quote ever," he said.

They ate breakfast at Stargrounds Coffee Shop, enjoying the pleasure of each other's company. After they had eaten their fill, they walked to the Art Gallery of Ontario and looked around for a while.

At their next stop, Kensington Market, together they took in the bohemian party atmosphere. A street fair was ongoing and hummed with activity. Couples were everywhere and young children dancing to the music that was coming from the various bands on the streets. Adele and Spike admired the amount of people who seemed to pour out of the city on such a gorgeous day.

They strolled down the street, stopping at the different booths to admire the artwork and the sheer volume of tourist-aimed products. Adele went over to a clothing booth and admired a do-it-yourself draped skirt, a two-toned crocheted scarf, and some bracelets. She put on the bracelets, scarf, and skirt and modeled it seductively for Spike. Spike grinned appreciatively.

"Here," said Spike, handing the seller a twenty-dollar bill. "It's on me."

"Are you sure?" Adele asked him hesitantly.

"It's OK," said Spike.

"Thanks for them," said Adele.

"You're welcome," said Spike.

Adele smiled happily.

They took the transit from the street fair to the Ontario Science Center. They got in for free and Spike showed Adele the Van de Graaff electricity demonstration.

Adele giggled. "You're living up to your nickname," she teased him, playfully ruffling his hair, which was standing straight-up from the electricity.

Spike grinned. "Alright, you try," he said.

Adele rolled her eyes good-naturedly, then touched the giant ball at the end of the generator. Her hair stood straight up on end. Spike laughed.

They went all around the center, looking at the various exhibits. The last exhibit they came to before leaving was the aquatic play fountain.

"Will you play something for me, Adele?" Spike asked. "At least for now, it's the closest I can get you to a grand piano."

Adele smiled. "What do you want to hear?" she asked.

Spike smiled. "Surprise me."

Adele tested out how the play fountain worked, giving herself a few moments to come up with something. She decided to play something she had written herself.

_Tonight and every night  
I will be here by your side  
No need to be afraid  
Soon it will be the day  
Close your eyes, close your eyes_

_And when you do  
I look at you in wonder  
I wonder  
Can you truly be mine?  
Be mine, be mine_

Spike was enthralled. He closed his eyes, letting her beautiful voice and the music fill him up and gently take him away.

He didn't realize how long he had been standing there, his mind off somewhere else, until he heard Adele say his name and felt her gentle hand take his.

"Spike. Hey, Spike, come back to earth, silly."

Spike opened his eyes and looked down at her. She was smiling slightly; it was clear she could see she had pleased him.

"Did you like it?" she asked. "It was something I wrote in high school."

"It was beautiful, Adele," Spike said quietly. "Thank you."

Adele smiled. "I'm glad you liked it," she said. "Hey, it's about lunchtime. Want to gather up some things and have a picnic in the park?"

"That sounds great," said Spike.

They took the transit as close to Adele's apartment as they could, then they walked the rest of the way.

Once inside, Adele went over to her closet and got out a picnic basket and a quilt. Into the basket, she tossed a box of crackers, a roll of summer sausage, two bananas, and a can of squeeze cheese.

"It's not the greatest," she admitted, "but it's the fastest stuff I can get together."

Spike nodded. "Adele, it's fine," he said.

Adele nodded. She opened the fridge and got out an unopened liter of V8 Berry Blend juice and handed it to Spike to carry. Then they walked to a nearby park, hand-in-hand, and settled down under a large oak tree to picnic, right next to a duck-filled pond. They chatted while they ate, about the beautiful weather, about work, about life in general.

When they were finished eating, Adele said, "We could feed some crackers to the ducks."

"OK," said Spike.

They each gathered a handful of crackers, then went over to the pond. They took their time feeding the ducks, then headed back to Adele's apartment.

By the time they arrived back at her apartment, it had started to rain. Spike looked out at the rain coming down, then he looked at Adele.

"Think it's time to dig out the Nintendo?"

Adele grinned. "Absolutely," she said.

They went in to her living room area and she dug out her Nintendo Entertainment System from inside the small cubbyhole beneath the TV set. She handed Spike the Player One controls, but he handed them back to her.

"Ladies first," he said, smiling

Adele smiled appreciatively, then handed him the Player Two controls. "Alright," she said. "Play until someone dies or take turns?"

"I think this should be our first play-until-someone-dies kind of afternoon," said Spike.

"Very well," said Adele. They looked at each other challengingly, but fondly. "Game on."

Spike and Adele played for almost three hours before Spike finally beat Adele, getting past the 6-4 castle.

"Ugh," Adele groaned good-naturedly, collapsing in her chair. "I can never get past that damn castle."

Spike grinned.

"I believe I have met my match," Adele said with admiration.

Spike laughed. "Good game," he said.

"Good game," she agreed. "So what do we do now?"

"Well, I want to hear you sing more," said Spike. "What do you say we go find a real-deal karaoke bar?"

Adele grinned. "Count me in."

They put away the Nintendo, then ran out to Adele's car, laughing as they got soaked.

* * *

They arrived at Cheers Karaoke a short while later. As it was a Saturday night, the bar buzzed with activity.

Spike got Adele and himself a drink, then, as they sipped their beer and rum-and-coke, Spike asked, "So what are you going to sing for me next?"

"Hmm," said Adele. "I'll have to think about it."

"Alright," said Spike.

For the next hour or so, they munched on popcorn and watched other clubbers singing and dancing. There was also an improvised comedy show going on.

Spike leaned over and asked Adele, "Are you ready?"

Adele, who had been engrossed in one of the karaoke acts, looked back at him and giggled. "'Course, I am," she laughed. She had had a few drinks by this point and was feeling fairly loose and carefree.

Spike stood up and took her hand and, after the next act finished, they went to the stage and took the microphones. Adele went over to the karaoke DJ and whispered into his ear.

A few seconds later, Spike heard the familiar chiming tune of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough."

"Nice selection, Tammi," he told Adele.

"Thank you, Marvin," Adele replied, smiling sweetly, as Spike began to sing Marvin Gay's part.

"_Listen, baby  
Ain't no mountain high  
Ain't no valley low  
Ain't no river wide enough, baby"_

Adele, singing Tammi Terrell's part, joined in with him.

"_If you need me, call me  
No matter where you are  
No matter how far"_

"_Don't worry, baby," _Spike sang to her.

"_Just call my name  
I'll be there in a hurry  
You don't have to worry"_

"_Cuz baby, there ain't no mountain high enough  
Ain't no mountain low enough  
Ain't no river wide enough  
To keep me from getting to you, baby_

Adele and Spike sang the song to each other, getting more into it as they went. Adele laughed as she sang, as Spike danced around the stage, then came and put his arm around her. Adele knew Spike was a total goof, but she had never truly seen it until now.

The song ended and the clubbers applauded loudly for them. Adele and Spike took hands and bowed. Then they left the stage, arm-in-arm, laughing.

Just as they arrived back at their table, Adele staggered slightly.

"Whoa," said Spike, steadying her. "Steady, Adele. Are you OK?"

"I haven't done that in years," she told him, laughing hysterically.

Spike grinned at her. "Well, it was awesome," he said.

Adele grinned, then her expression fell as she stumbled. Spike steadied her again.

"Sorry," she whispered breathlessly. Once again, she was well aware of just how very close to each other she and Spike now stood. "I... felt a little dizzy."

"Maybe we'd better go," said Spike. "Give me your keys. I'll drive."

"Probably a good idea," Adele agreed, smirking.

Spike smiled. She handed him the keys, then he helped her out of the bar, and drove her home. When they got inside, he made sure she drank a glass of water and took some Aleve before they made their way to the bedroom.

"Do you think you'll be OK tonight, by yourself?" Spike asked.

Adele nodded. "I think so," she said. "Today was a great day. Thanks for taking me places."

"Thanks for thinking of them," said Spike. "I can't take all the credit."

They took turns using the small bathroom to get ready for bed, then met again in the hallway.

"Goodnight, Spike," Adele said quietly.

"Sleep well, Adele," Spike replied softly.

They embraced in a long hug, then went their separate ways and went to sleep.

* * *

_I don't know about you guys, but I was giggling so much as I wrote parts of this chapter. They are just so fun to write together. I hope you are enjoying it!_

_In case some of you don't know, Adele's song "she wrote" actually belongs to Melanie Doane. It's "Chopin Ballade" and I love it!_

_The whole "classic" bit Spike mentions about his newest favorite book is stolen from Sergio Di Zio's Twitter. While I personally do not tweet, I decided to creep on him, once I discovered he had one, lol. I know, I know, I'm _bad_, lol. I don't think I will ever tweet— I just don't understand it and I'm OK with that. Like I need another addiction in life, right? (But I said that about Pinterest, too... famous last words, hehe.)_

_Alright, it is past 1am now and I need to head to bed. Oh, if only we humans could live without sleep, eh? __Up next: Sunday, and the weekend comes to a close, but more doors open in their friendship/relationship. Stay tuned!_

_Please review to tell me what you thought!_


	4. Morning After

_Thanks to all who have reviewed/favorited/alerted so far. I appreciate it._

_Sorry it's shorter than usual. I was working on it at a hotel recently (mini vacation with my parents) and the stupid hotel's internet crapped out and I lost the original document (I wasn't using my laptop... bad move.) I hate rewriting anything, because it's never as good, in my opinion, as it is the first time around. Ugh._

_Anyway, here's chapter 4. Enjoy._

**Chapter 4**

* * *

The following morning, Spike woke up first. He hadn't slept well on the air mattress after their fun day together; he had been too excitable. He touched base with Ed, but with nothing to report since the day before, he was free to make himself a pot of coffee. As the pot percolated, he settled down to read the thick Sunday newspaper.

He was halfway through the B section when Adele came stumbling into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Adele," Spike said cheerfully to her.

"Morning," Adele murmured in response, barely acknowledging him before making a beeline for her teapot.

"How are you feeling?" Spike asked her, as she started the water to boil.

"Slightly hungover," she replied. She came over and sat down next to him, putting her head in her hands.

"How can I help?" Spike asked.

"Spike..." Adele said, touched. "You've done so much for me already. You couldn't possibly do anything more for me."

"Adele, it's fine, really," Spike said.

"Just please don't say it's all part of your job," Adele implored him.

"Of course not, Adele," said Spike. "It's who I am."

Adele nodded, then she was silent.

"What are you thinking about?" Spike asked her, after a few moments of quiet.

"Well, was I was waking up this morning, I was thinking..."

Spike indicated for her to go on. "What were you thinking about?"

"Well, today's Sunday. Ed said you'd be 'watching me' through the weekend at the most," said Adele. "After tonight, you'll be gone. And I'll go back to work. I don't know when I'll get to see you again."

"Hmm," Spike said, and he considered this for a moment. "Well, I would say let's not think about that just yet. Let's just make today extra special."

Adele smiled. "Alright, I can do that," she said.

"Good," said Spike.

* * *

After a small but hearty breakfast of sausage, eggs, and hash browns, Spike and Adele walked to the nearby park, trading IPods along the way. Spike discovered that Adele listened to Dala, Royal Wood, Colbie Caillat, Karmina, The Band Perry, The Civil Wars, Coldplay, and Paramore. She also enjoyed the music of the Dixie Chicks, Martina McBride, Breaking Benjamin, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Florence and the Machine.

Spike, on the other hand, enjoyed Bruce Springsteen, Depeche Mode, My Chemical Romance, The Used, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Elton John, Band of Horses, Pearl Jam, Johnny Cash, and Mumford and Sons.

Spike looked over and saw Adele walking hesitantly around the puddles, trying not to get wet. Feeling slightly devious, he grinned, then he picked her up, bride-style, and carried her across the water, splashing gleefully as he went and getting himself wet. Adele laughed happily.

"Spike, you are such a goof!" she laughed. Spike grinned, then set her down after they had gotten across most of the puddles.

Once they arrived at the park, they put away their IPods and settled down underneath the large oak tree, under which they had picnicked the day before. Spike laid against the tree and Adele sat down between his legs and laid against his strong frame.

For several minutes, they enjoyed the pleasure of each others' company and sat in content silence, listening to the sounds of the birds singing, ducks quacking, children playing, and the breeze blowing through the trees.

Then Spike caught himself playing with Adele's hair. He immediately froze.

"Mm, please don't stop. That feels wonderful," Adele murmured calmly from below him.

Spike smiled and resumed playing with her hair. As he did so, they picked out shapes in the clouds. Adele spotted a rabbit and Spike saw a rhinocerous.

After spotting several more shapes in the clouds, Adele suddenly sat up.

"What is it, Adele?" Spike asked.

"Spike... I... I want to tell you something," she said. "I... I like you."

"I like you, too, Adele," Spike replied casually.

"No," Adele said. She closed her eyes, sighed, then looked at him again. "I mean, I like you a lot. I might... like-like you."

Spike nodded slowly. "Uh... huh..." he said hesitantly, unsure where she was going with this. "Adele, I..."

"Don't say anything," said Adele. "Not now, OK? Let's not... ruin this by me being totally childish."

Spike nodded slowly again. "Alright," he said.

They laid back down and Spike made a mental note to tell Ed later what Adele had said, only because it worried him a little.

"Spike, if you couldn't be part of SRU, what would you do?" Adele asked.

"I'd work for the federal government," said Spike, "disarming bombs, handling technical, biological, chemical threats, keeping the peace. Same thing I do now, just on a larger scale."

"You can up and leave whenever you want," said Adele, "but you choose to stay with Team One?"

Adele felt Spike nod against her head. "They're my family," he said.

"And if you couldn't work for the government?" Adele asked.

"Tech support for some infamous company, like Microsoft or something," said Spike.

"Sounds like you have an answer for just about everything," Adele said.

"Well, you just keep the questions coming," said Spike. "Eventually, I'll run out of answers."

Adele smiled. "What's the best prank you've ever played on someone?" she asked.

"Swapping out Sam's Kevlar with bubble wrap and Styrofoam," Spike said, grinning.

Adele sat up. "Wait, what?" she asked, shocked and thoroughly amused. "Tell me."

"Probie orientation. Standard Operating Procedure," said Spike. "On Sam's second day on the team, we had swapped out his Kevlar for bubble wrap and Styrofoam. We were doing training drills. First time he fell, poof!" Spike shot his hands into the air theatrically. "Peanuts _everywhere_! It was perfect."

Adele laughed; she definitely could picture that happening.

"I like that I can make you laugh," Spike said.

Adele smiled, nodding. "Me too," she said.

Suddenly, from underneath her, Spike's stomach growled obnoxiously.

"Are you hungry?" she asked. "We didn't eat that large of a breakfast. Oh wait," she amended, "you're _always _hungry."

Spike grinned and laughed. "What's on your mind?" he asked her.

"Well, I haven't had fettuchini alfredo with Kielbasa sausage in _forever_," said Adele. "Are you up for that?"

"Absolutely," said Spike. "Then more Mario Bros.?"

"Only if you show me how to get through the 6-4 castle," said Adele.

"You got it," Spike said, grinning.

He slid out from underneath her, then helped her stand up, and they walked back, arm-in-arm, to Adele's apartment. She made a delicious meal, then they sat down to play Mario Bros. while they digested.

Once she died at 4-1 and it was Spike's turn, Adele went to her CD player and put in a CD. She hit play, then went back over to sit down next to Spike.

"What's the music?" Spike asked, as he jumped on three ducks, then three turtles, one after the other, and sent the three turtles flying into a hole.

"It's a mix CD," said Adele. "So there's a variety on it."

Spike snatched her Player One controls, paused his round, then leaned back and listened to the piano melody underneath the singer's voice.

"I like this one a lot," he said. "What is it?"

"'Safe Haven,' by Royal Wood," said Adele.

Spike smiled. "I like it a lot," he said. "Great piano underneath the singer."

Adele nodded, agreeing. "Yeah, it's one of my favorites," she said.

Spike looked down at her for a long moment. Adele met his gaze, feeling butterflies flutter in her stomach slightly as she did so.

"Would you... would you like to dance?" she asked.

A smile slowly came over Spike's face. "Sure," he said.

"OK," said Adele.

They stood up, then Adele resumed the track at the beginning, before coming back over to Spike, who was taking off his headset. For a moment, they stood there, not quite sure how to go about starting to dance.

"I, um... well," Adele said, before placing her left hand on Spike's right shoulder. They joined hands, her right to his left, then Spike placed his right hand on her waist.

Then, a few seconds later, Spike let go of her hand and waist and wrapped his arms around her whole body. Adele gasped with surprise at the gesture, then, not knowing what else to do, wrapped her arms around his lower back and laid her head on his shoulder.

For the next three and a half minutes, they rotated together in companionable silence. Adele's heart was pounding the whole time. A whole rush of new emotions she had never experienced before was flowing through her. She didn't know what to make of it at that moment.

The song ended and they let go of each other. Adele stood in stunned silence for a moment, then said, "Thank you."

"That was nice," Spike said softly.

"Yeah, it was," Adele agreed softly.

Then they both turned and looked at the paused Mario Bros. game.

"Somehow, I don't really feel like playing anymore," said Adele.

"Me either," said Spike. "What would you like to do instead?"

"Want to put in a movie?" Adele asked. She didn't particularly want to watch a movie, either, but doing so would give her some time to process what had just happened.

"Sure," said Spike. He put his headset back on as he picked a movie off her bookshelf. "How about 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?'"

"OK," said Adele.

Spike put in the movie and it began to play. But neither of them were really watching, each lost in their own thoughts.

* * *

When the movie finished, Adele muted it as the credits rolled, giving them a few minutes more to talk, before they went their separate ways to sleep.

"What's going to happen tomorrow?" she asked Spike.

Spike sighed. He had known this conversation was coming, and that it was going to be equally uncomfortable for them both.

"Well," he began, looking down at her, "we need to be at headquarters by seven, so paperwork can be filled out and protection detail officially terminated."

"So that means..." Adele began slowly.

"You're no longer my charge."

Adele leaned her head on his shoulder. "I don't want this to end," she said.

Spike inched away from her for a moment, then looked down at her. "Adele..." he said. "I like you, but... I can't. You know that, right?"

Adele looked confused. "What do you mean?" she asked, even though she was certain she knew what he meant.

Spike swallowed hard, trying to think of how to break this to her as gently as possible.

"I'm sorry, but it can't work," he said. "You and me. I know you want it to."

"What about you?" Adele asked him bluntly.

Spike hesitated. No matter which way he approached it, he knew this was going to be hard for her. That was the last thing he wanted.

"I'm not in a position right now where I'm available for that," Spike said. "My job is so unpredictable and it makes the rest of my life complicated. I think you're a very nice young woman who has yet to find a man who can truly appreciate the qualities you possess. I think you're a true human being. You'll always have me as a friend."

Adele was quiet for a long moment. "Oh," she said, when she finally spoke. She turned away from him. "I guess I thought..."

"I'm truly sorry if I gave you any impression of anything beyond friendship being a possibility," Spike said sadly. "I volunteered, but I still had instructions. This weekend, while it has been great fun and I'll never forget it, it was strictly professional. It's all still who I am as a person, but that doesn't change the fact that it was, and still is, a professional assignment."

Adele nodded slowly. "Alright," she said reluctantly. "I guess I can live with that."

Adele got up from beside him, shut down the paused game, then put away the Nintendo system.

"I'm really tired," Adele said matter-of-factly, "so I think I am going to go read for a while, then head to bed."

"Alright," said Spike. "Goodnight, Adele."

"'Night," said Adele, before going into her bathroom to get ready for bed and closing the door.

Spike, suddenly overcome with conflicting emotions, ripped off his headset, then stepped out of the apartment, pulling out his cell phone as he went. He called the only person whom it made sense to be calling for advice on women at this time of night.

"Jules, it's Spike," he said, when she picked up her phone, "got a second?"

"Sure, Spike, what's up?" Jules asked. "Are you OK?"

"I'm fine," Spike said, although that didn't even begin to cover how he was at the moment.

"Is Adele OK? Is something wrong?" Jules asked.

"Adele's fine," Spike said firmly. "I... I just need advice."

"OK, shoot," said Jules.

Spike slid down the wall to the floor before speaking. "There's no other way to say this, but... I think Adele has developed feelings for me."

"Uh oh," said Jules. "How do you think that happened?"

"Well... to be honest, I think because she's so inexperienced, when it comes to men, she misinterpreted me just being who I am for 'romantic interest,'" said Spike. "Plus, it's standard 'hero worship.'"

"Mhm," Jules said. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Well... I tried to let her down gently and I apologized for any misgivings," said Spike. "I explained it as best as I could. But she still took it really hard."

"That's understandable," said Jules. "She really likes you."

"I know, I know," Spike said worriedly. "I think I broke her heart, Jules, and I never meant for that to happen."

"Well, you'll always be there for her as a friend."

"I told her that."

"So I would just leave it where it is right now, because what's done is done. You'll be back to normal duty tomorrow and you can maintain some distance for a while, to allow her to readjust, while still being her friend," said Jules.

"I agree with that, Jules, but I'm still worried," said Spike.

"What about?" Jules asked.

"I'm afraid she's going to relapse and do something irrational, if I don't keep this up," said Spike.

"I don't think so," said Jules.

"Why not?" Spike asked.

"She's clearly got someone else, in addition to everyone else in her life, to live for."

Spike nodded. "Makes sense," he said. "Jules, I didn't mean for this to happen. I thought I was doing everything right."

"I'm sure you were, Spike," said Jules. "Just go with the flow and give it time. She's going back to work tomorrow, so hopefully she'll get busy again and it'll make things easier."

Spike nodded. "I hope so, Jules," he said.

"Try to get some sleep," Jules told him. "I'll see you at 0700, OK?"

"Alright, thanks, Jules," Spike said.

"No problem," Jules said. "'Night, Spike."

"'Night, Jules," said Spike, before hanging up.

* * *

_Tried to post this up an hour ago, around 1am (even though I really wanted/needed to go to bed), but FanFic decided to be stupid and nothing would load, except the homepage. I almost lost my document, but luckily, I was able to copy it out of the Document Manager (I hate that stupid thing!) into my Microsoft Word, so nothing was lost. Phew! I have had trouble in previous years with losing documents on flash drives and in the Document Manager. It's always frustrating and sad when that happens. But it was avoided tonight, fortunately. And now, I can present it for you all._

_Sorry for the depressing end to the chapter. But we all knew it had to come, right? Stick with me, my lovelies. I'll update as soon as I can. Up next: A little bit of Monday, then fast forwarding a few weeks or so._

_Please review!_


	5. Invitation

_Here's chapter 5, slightly shorter than normal. But well worth it, I think._

**Chapter 5**

* * *

That night, Spike didn't sleep at all. His mind was too focused on what had happened earlier that evening. He knew Adele was attracted to him, that she had a crush on him. He also knew that, even after his protection detail was over, his job was so intense, precarious, dangerous, and complicated that making a relationship work alongside it was next to impossible, even if he wanted it to work.

On the other hand, if he thought about it, he had prime examples of couples who made their relationships and marriages work within the job: Wordy and Shelly, and most certainly, Ed and Sophie.

Spike decided to take Jules' advice and, at least for now, give Adele some space and time to readjust, while still being there for her as a friend. Eventually, though, he knew he had to make a decision.

Because if he really thought about it, he liked her back; he just couldn't act on it right at this moment, and he didn't want to tell her that, then get her hopes up for nothing, only to disappoint her.

The night dragged on. Despite reading, listening to calming music, taking Tylenol PM and NyQuil, which always knocked Spike out under normal circumstances, deep breathing, and some self-dialoguing, sleep would not come.

Finally, at 4:30am, Spike gave up on trying to sleep. Abandoning tossing and turning, he got up, dressed in a plain white T-shirt and grey sweatpants, brushed his teeth, spiked his hair, and went into Adele's kitchen to make a pot of coffee. He knew he would not last today without at least one cup of coffee.

He scrawled out a note to Adele, letting her know where he had gone.

_Adele,_

_I've gone to my 5am workout. I will be back at 0645 to pick you up and take you to HQ._

Spike paused, halfway through writing the note. Part of him felt like writing more; the other part of him wanted to just leave it as it was and bolt from the apartment and get back to his normal life.

Spike finished with a simple "See you then," then signed his name and left the apartment.

He was the first to arrive to the workout area. Spike immediately wrapped his hands, then put on gloves and launched into assaulting the boxing bag.

"Hey, man, go easy on that bag," said Ed, as he walked in with the rest of the team. "You know they only give us one, right?"

Spike stopped punching, sweating and panting hard, and took a few steps to decompress. But except for a nod of acknowledgement toward Ed, he was silent.

"Something on your mind?" Ed asked.

But before Spike had a chance to answer, Greg came up to him.

"Protection detail's over, Spike," said Greg. "You got her through this weekend well."

Spike nodded. "No problem, Boss."

"How do you feel?" Ed asked.

"If it's OK, Eddie, I'd rather not talk about that right now," Spike said curtly.

Ed held up his hands protectively. "Alright," he conceded, "another time."

Spike nodded.

The workout continued, then finally, 6:30 came and Spike had to leave to go pick up Adele. He found her sitting on the front steps of her apartment, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. Even from the short distance away, Spike could see shed tears shining on her face.

He walked up to her, but she did not look at him.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked.

Adele nodded, shouldered her purse, then walked past him to the waiting SUV. They drove to Headquarters in silence, both staring straight at the road ahead of them. Upon arrival, Adele got out of the SUV and Spike led her into the building.

The rest of the team was waiting for them in the briefing room, paperwork already set out on the table.

"Good morning, Adele," said Greg, as Adele and Spike entered the room. "How are you doing today?"

Adele looked at him, but didn't say a word. Instead, she merely shrugged.

"I know it's been a long weekend," Greg went on, sensing the high tension that suddenly seemed to permeate the room. "But you seem to be doing well, from what Spike has reported to us. That's great news, Adele. So I've got the paperwork all ready for you, so you can start getting back to your normal life. All you have to do is sign, then one of us will drop you back off at home."

Adele nodded, then she quickly left Spike's side, sat down in a chair, and signed the paperwork.

She looked at Greg. "Thanks," she said. "Can I go now?"

Greg nodded. "Sure, if there isn't anything else you think you need from us."

"No, I'm fine, thank you," said Adele. "I'd like Jules to drive me home, if that's alright."

Jules glanced at Spike and they had a quick conversation with their eyes. The look on his face told her the previous night had not gone over well, but that he did not want to talk about it with anyone here.

"Alright," said Greg. "Well, take care of yourself, alright?"

"I will," said Adele, nodding. "Thank you, Greg. Thank you all for helping me out when I really needed it."

Ed jumped in. "It was our pleasure, Adele," he said, holding out his hand, which she shook.

Adele looked at Jules. "I'm ready, Jules," she said.

"Alright," Jules said good-naturedly, "let's go. Come on, Sam, Ed, you can walk us out."

"Copy that," said the two men in unison.

As she walked out of the briefing room and began to walk down the hall, Adele looked back at Spike, whose expression was unreadable. He barely acknowledged her leaving. At the moment, he felt like his world was proceeding in slow motion.

About a minute later, Ed and Sam came back to the briefing room.

"Spike," Ed asked, "something you wanna talk about?"

Spike considered this for a moment. While he knew he would need to debrief about the weekend, as was protocol, he also knew he could discuss it on a more personal level with Ed in private.

"Sure, Eddie, after we debrief," said Spike. "Coffee run, you and me?"

"You got it," Ed said, smiling at him and nodding.

* * *

Meanwhile, as they drove to her apartment, Jules noticed how exhausted and sad Adele looked. She was also being uncharacteristically quiet.

"Wanna talk?" she asked.

Adele shook her head, then nodded. "Yes. No. I don't know."

"I'm here if you want someone to bounce off," said Jules. "I won't say anything until you're done."

Adele nodded. "I like Spike, Jules," she said. "I like him a lot. Like, I have a crush on him. But last night, he told me he's not in a position right now where a relationship is possible, because his job is so complicated and unpredictable. He said that this whole weekend had been nothing but an assignment, that he had orders, even though he volunteered. I'm just an assignment— I'm just orders— to him?"

Adele paused for a longer time than to just take a breath, so Jules took it as her cue to give advice.

"Well..." Jules began. "Just because he can't act on them, doesn't mean the feelings aren't there."

Adele looked at Jules. "Really?" she asked.

Jules nodded. "I could tell from the beginning that he felt a strong connection to you," she said. "I think, if you each give one another some space for a while, and just give it time, it might come to work out in the end."

Adele nodded.

"But on a professional level, I can understand why he's worried," said Jules.

"Why?"

"Because as much as he appreciates the admiration for him that you hold, and the friendship you've established, with him and with the rest of us, he wants you to see him as just who he is, not as a glorified hero assigned to protect you," Jules replied.

Adele nodded. "I see," she said.

Arriving at Adele's apartment, Jules pulled up to the curb and put the vehicle in park.

"So I would say, try not to take it personally, OK?" Jules suggested. "He isn't doing this to hurt you. He just needs time to figure out if it's what he wants or not, and if he does, how to go about making it work. He's got Eddie and Wordy as good role models for it, too."

"Oh yeah," said Adele, realizing this.

They got out of the SUV and Jules walked Adele up to her front door, then gave her a hug.

"It's been nice getting to know you," said Jules. She gave Adele a business card with her name and cell phone number on it. "Call me again if you want to talk more, OK?"

"Alright," said Adele. "Thanks, Jules."

"No problem," said Jules. "Oh, and"— she tapped the business card and smiled— "check the back."

Adele turned over the business card and looked at it. Jules had written a cell phone number on the back.

"Whose...?" Adele asked slowly.

"Spike's," Jules said simply. "Give it a few weeks, then give him a call. I think you'll find him to be more... open."

"OK," Adele said, nodding. "Thanks, Jules."

"You're welcome," said Jules. She gave Adele another hug. "Take care of yourself, OK? We don't want to meet you on that bridge again."

Adele nodded. "You won't. Bye, Jules."

"Bye, Adele," Jules said, before turning and going back to the SUV.

* * *

Back at Headquarters, the team had debriefed without Jules present. Spike and Ed headed over to Stargrounds Coffee Shop to get coffee for the team.

"So what's up, Spike?" Ed asked, as they stood in line.

Spike hesitated; he didn't know how to break it to Ed.

"Ed," he began, "I don't know how to tell you this, but..." Ed raised his eyebrows curiously. "Adele has developed feelings for me."

"Mhm," Ed said neutrally, waiting for Spike to go on.

"It's not like I've been leading her on or anything," Spike said hastily. "I mean, not intentionally. It's just that, I think she's misinterpreted the whole weekend and me just being me as something it might not be."

"Which is?" Ed asked, though clearly he knew.

"She wants a relationship with me," said Spike. "But I can't do it, can I? It's totally unorthodox. Besides that, even if it wasn't, it's complicated. This job is so unpredictable I never really know what each day is going to be like. It's hard enough on my parents, and they make that very clear at times."

"You can make it work, if you really want it to," said Ed. "Look at me and Wordy."

Spike nodded. "I've thought about that," he said. "But what if I get hurt or killed on the job? Then she'll be left alone."

"Spike, even when she felt like she was the loneliest person in the world, that day on the bridge, she wasn't," said Ed. "She always has her family, her friends, and now she has us. Outside of the professional spectrum, we'll always be there for her, as her friends."

"That's what I told her."

"What else did you tell her?" Ed asked.

As Spike continued talking, Ed placed the team's order, then they sat down at a small table to wait for the order to come up.

"I told her that, while I volunteered for it, I had orders, I was assigned to protect her."

"Ouch."

"I wasn't saying it to hurt her, Eddie."

"I know you weren't, buddy."

"What I mean is I want her to see me as me, for who I am. Not as someone she feels attached to because we saved her life and I spent the weekend protecting her from herself; speaking of which, while I'm still worried, I don't consider her to be a threat to herself anymore."

Ed nodded, then indicated for Spike to hold his next thought, as he went up to the counter to get the completed order. He inclined his head toward the door and they started their way back to Headquarters.

"Well, Spike, you don't have to tell me, or even anyone, ever," said Ed. "But ask yourself: do you want to see her again? Because, in my opinion, it takes time and effort to establish and achieve those things you mentioned, getting past the hero worship and 'protector' status and getting to be friends for real, then going beyond that."

Spike nodded.

"In the meantime, as your Team Leader, I need to ask you something, and for this, I do need an honest answer, right now."

"What?"

"Is your current situation with Adele going to affect your performance in the field? Because, if it is, I need to know; if it does, we need to do something about it."

"No," said Spike. "The sooner I get back to real life, the faster it will get easier. I don't want to be benched."

Ed nodded understandingly. "Alright," he said, "but do keep me posted, OK?"

"I will," Spike promised.

"Good," Ed said, grinning. They had arrived back at Headquarters. "Now come on, let's go have coffee, then go shoot something."

Spike grinned, then went inside with Ed.

* * *

The next couple weeks went by in a blur. Adele returned to work and resumed weekly therapy. She also talked to her doctor and got her medications for her depression changed. With the steadily sustaining warmer weather, she got outside more often and was spending more time with her friends. She found the latter most refreshing of them all.

Still, though, when she came home at night, wasn't busy, and spent time alone, she found her mind wandering back to Spike. She wondered how he was doing, if he had changed his mind, and just when it was acceptable to call him.

So she was surprised when, on June 12, Spike's name showed up on her caller ID.

"Hello, Spike," she answered. "I wasn't expecting you to call."

"Hi, Adele," Spike said. "I know. Um, Jules gave me your number. I hope you don't mind."

"I don't mind," Adele said, not bothering to tell him Jules had done the same for her. "What can I do for you?"

On the other end, Spike flinched, hearing the coolness to her voice.

"Listen, I wanted to ask you something," said Spike.

"What?"

"Well... next week is our annual family picnic," said Spike. "We all get together and barbecue and have drinks and sit around and chat and Ed and Wordy's kids come, too."

"Mhm," said Adele, in what she hoped was a neutral tone of voice.

"So..." Spike abandoned all pretenses and plunged into explanation. "Adele, I'm really sorry for what I said. I never meant to hurt you."

"I know, Spike, it's OK. Jules talked to me," said Adele. "I forgive you."

"Really?" Spike asked.

Adele nodded, then realized Spike couldn't see her head bob. "You were just doing your job," she said. "You weren't leading me on. I was feeling vulnerable and lonely, so I attached to the first thing that came along and blew things out of proportion in my mind."

"It wasn't your fault," said Spike.

"I know. It wasn't yours, either. It just happened. So we move on," said Adele.

"Are you doing OK?" Spike asked.

"I'm doing a lot better," said Adele. "I've resumed weekly therapy and I'm on different meds now that seem to be working better. And I'm seeing people more."

"That's so great, Adele," Spike said, smiling, even though he knew Adele couldn't see it.

"Yeah," said Adele. "And I'm back at work, too, which is nice. I mean, the job isn't brilliant, but it pays the bills and keeps me occupied."

"Good," Spike said. "Anyway, the reason I called was to ask you if you would like to come to the family picnic with me."

For a second, Adele felt suspicious. "You mean, as friends or like a date?" she asked.

"I've done a lot of thinking," said Spike, "and... well, it can be a date, if you want it to be."

"Are you sure?" Adele asked. She wanted him to know that he needed to be certain before she believed him.

"Yes," said Spike.

"Then it's a date."

"Really?" Spike asked disbelievingly.

"Really," said Adele. "When is the party and where?"

"June 19 at six," Spike replied. "Gives us enough time to debrief at the end of the day, then get ready."

"Alright," said Adele. "Count me in."

"Want me to pick you up?"

"Sure, that'd be fine."

"OK, I'll see you then," said Adele.

"Alright," Spike said, "sounds good. And Adele...?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you for forgiving me."

"You're welcome. I'll see you soon, Spike. Bye."

"Bye, Adele," Spike said. He hung up, then leapt into the air and punched the air with his fist in victory.

June 19 could not get here fast enough.

* * *

_Come on, you guys didn't think I could leave Spike and Adele apart for that long, did you? :P_

_Just so you know, even though I started the story pre-One Wrong Move, unfortunately time can't stay in one place and I believe in progressing as the show does, unless I'm doing a completely AU story (which, in my opinion, this isn't.) So... as much as I love and adore Lou (and truly, I do, I miss him so), according to the show's progression, he can't stay around forever. I just wanted to forewarn my readers that that will probably be written into the story, at least a little, indirectly. I'm not sure when, but it will happen, maybe in chapter 7._

_Please review! It's 1:30am and I am off to bed. Goodnight, my lovelies!_


	6. Team Togetherness

_I wish I knew where the "Slow Burn" family picnic was filmed. It looks like a gorgeous place! Anyone know? I would love to go there someday..._

_Is it just me, or is Clark Lane, Ed's son's name, a possible reference to Superman? Maybe it's just my overactive imagination at work... lol._

_Sorry this took longer than it has lately. I've been away from home for a few days, having eye surgery, and although I had internet and my laptop with me (I mean, duh, lol) and I had a lot of creative bursts, regarding this chapter (the mountains were good for me!), and felt pretty good after surgery, I didn't get a chance to finish this, edit it, and post it up until just now. Trust me, I was texting the moment I was in Recovery and on my computer practically the moment we got home, haha. I had wonderful care before, during (I was awake for the entire procedure, talking away; yay, local anesthesia!), and after surgery, it was a very, very good experience, as surgery goes. =)_

_To add to the adventure, on Monday, I got kicked by a feral burro (donkey) and I have the hoof print bruise to prove it (on my hip.) I'm pretty stoked about it, lol!_

_And so, I can present to you, chapter 6. It's extra-long, partly to make up for my absence (which wasn't that long, but considering that, for a few days there, I was writing just about a chapter a day, I felt bad.) No Kleenex warning yet; it's looking like that will probably be chapter 7.__  
_

**Chapter 6**

* * *

Finally, June 19 came around, and with it came the annual family picnic. Spike left work as soon as he could, after debriefing, to go to his parents' place, quickly change clothes, then pick up Adele. He said hello to his father, changed clothes, then kissed his mother on the cheek before he left.

Spike knocked on her door, then waited anxiously for her to answer.

"Hi," she said, smiling, as she opened the door.

"Hi," Spike said. "You look pretty."

For the picnic, Adele had chosen to wear a yellow sundress, with a thin brown belt, a trendy blue-and-brown necklace, and turquoise-white-and-brown jewelry on her right wrist. She also had a crown of real blue roses in her hair.

"Thanks," she said, smiling at him.

"Are you ready to go?" Spike asked.

"Yeah," said Adele. "I just need to grab my jacket from my room."

"OK," said Spike, and he waited for her to come back.

She came rushing out of her bedroom, then stopped short. "Alright, I'm ready."

"Good," said Spike, and they went to his car.

The weather couldn't be better for the picnic. The sun streamed down from a clear blue sky, sparkling on the water that crashed against the sandy beach that extended out from a wooded area, across from the city limits.

The team arrived and began to set up for the party.

"Hey, Adele," Jules said cheerfully, coming over to hug her. "I wasn't sure if you were coming."

Adele smiled. "I would hate to disappoint you, Jules."

Jules grinned. "Good," she said.

Next, Ed walked up to Adele.

"Hey, Ed," Adele said, smiling before she hugged him.

"How are you doing, Adele?" Ed asked, smiling down at her, his blue eyes twinkling.

"I'm good, really good, thanks," said Adele, smiling up at him.

"Good to have you here," Ed said. "This is my wife, Sophie, and my son, Clark."

"It's nice to meet you both," Adele said, shaking Sophie's hand. "I'm glad to be here, Eddie," Adele added to him.

Greg came over to greet her as well. "Hi, Adele," he said, smiling warmly at her.

"Hey, Greg," Adele replied, smiling back. "It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you, too, Adele," said Greg. "How have things been?"

"Really good, thanks," said Adele. "I'm back at work and back in therapy and I'm hanging out with friends again and on new meds that seem to be working well."

"Wonderful," Greg said, nodding, both impressed and pleased. "That's great, Adele, that's really great."

Adele nodded. "Yeah, it is," she agreed.

She greeted Sam, Lou, and Wordy, then after Wordy introduced Adele to Shelley and his three daughters, Spike introduced her to Winnie and Kira.

After introductions were finished, the women laid down tablecloths and opened up the tables' umbrellas, and poured drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, from iced coolers. The men set up the grill and got out all the food and set it all out on the tables.

Ed started the grill and lit it up. To his surprise, flames shot four feet into the air. Everyone watched, wondering what they were going to do about it. Ed and Greg looked at each other uncertainly. They both smirked, then looked back at the grill. The flames did not die down. The two men looked at each other again, wondering if they should attempt to extinguish the fire or just let it settle down on its own.

Eventually, the flames settled down on their own to a more manageable, workable height. Amused chuckles went around the group, then everyone resumed what they had been doing.

Plates, napkins, forks, knives and spoons were set out, along with chips, pretzels, and condiments. Ed began cooking, asking everyone how they wanted their hamburgers and hot dogs cooked, with cheese or no cheese.

The team went around telling about their first days on the SRU team and their hazing stories of varying humiliation and hilarity.

On Jules' first day, her humiliation didn't occur until after the five-am workout. The night before, the men had connected a tube of not-quite-pure animal blood to her water pipes. The point was for the tube's contents to spray before the real water. With her first crank on the taps, she had been sprayed with the red haze. The boys could hear her screaming with shock from their locker room until it stopped and the normal water came out.

Adele looked over at Sam, whom, not having heard the story before, was clearly horrified.

"I promised them major payback later," Jules said confidently. "And I did. I swapped out their sunscreen for baby oil!"

Adele grinned, then she let her mind wander as Sam's initiation story went around, of swapping out his Kevlar with Styrofoam peanuts on a day of obstacle course drills.

"First time he fell," Spike said, slapping his hands together, "poof! Instant hilarity."

Adele came back to earth when she heard Spike's name mentioned.

"Who remembers who put pepper spray in Spike's gear on his first day?" Ed asked, grinning. Adele's jaw dropped in shock, then she grimaced.

"Wordy!" Spike said immediately, pointing to Wordy, who grinned and bowed, taking the credit. "But I got him back."

"How?" Adele asked.

"Wordy eats ketchup on _everything_," said Spike. "So one day, I put some baking soda in the ketchup bottle and shook it up. We got take-out and I offered him some French fries. Then I ran to the other end of the room, because when he opened the bottle, _boom! _It splattered _everywhere_."

Adele looked at Wordy, laughing. Wordy smirked.

"Lou's was too simple," Wordy chimed in, laughing. "We bought a brand-new bar of soap and painted it with clear nail varnish. Then we let it dry and let him shower first that day."

Adele cringed, then laughed at the reminiscent, painful look on Lou's face.

"You and the Sarge were hazed by the best, though," Jules chimed in, looking at Ed. "If I remember correctly, wasn't it fake 3-D bullet holes on the Sarge's driver's side car door?" Ed nodded. Adele laughed. "And you, Ed, didn't it involve dumping about six lumps of sugar into your coffee?"

Ed nodded, smirking.

"Never mess with a Marine's coffee, if you want to live," he said, raising his cup, and everyone laughed.

* * *

After everyone had eaten to their fill, everyone sailed toy boats on the water. Adele, Jules, Sophie and Shelley blew bubbles of various sizes, from tiny to gigantic, with Wordy's girls. While they did that, Wordy, Ed, Greg, Lou, and Spike got a game of Frisbee going. Once the girls tired of playing Frisbee, Adele, Spike, and Sam showed them how best to catch frogs.

"Can we take them home, Daddy?" Ally, Wordy's youngest daughter, asked.

Wordy laughed sarcastically. "That's up to your mother," he said evasively.

Judging by the look on Shelley's face, the answer was a firm "no." Everyone laughed.

Everyone worked together to take down the umbrellas, fold up the tablecloths, and put away the leftover food and drink. As it was starting to get dark, to entertain everyone, Spike flew a remote control helicopter until the batteries began to die.

He was going to bring it slowly and safely back to the ground, but Sam tried to take the controls from him.

"Come on, Spike, let someone else give it a try," said Sam.

"Sam, no, don't," Spike said, leaning away from him. The helicopter dipped considerably in altitude. "The batteries are dying." The helicopter lowered perilously to the ground, as the men continued grappling over it. "Sam, let go, you're gonna crash it!"

A few seconds later, Spike watched in shock, as the helicopter went plummeting to the ground. There was an audible crunching sound as plastic and metal made contact with the earth.

Spike scowled at Sam. "Thanks a lot, Probie," he snapped.

Sam raised his shoulders and grinned stupidly. "Sorry, Spike, dumb blonde moment. I'll pay you for the repairs," he said.

"You are just plain dumb, Sam, period," Spike groused at him. "Don't blame it on your hair color."

"Spike," Adele said, coming over and putting a hand on his arm. Spike sighed heavily, then relaxed. "Relax. It's OK. You can fix it."

"I know that I can, Adele," said Spike. "I just don't like that people _assume _that I can, except when I'm on the job."

Adele shook her head. "Come on," she said. Spike didn't move. "Spike, come with me. Please."

Well aware everyone was watching them, Adele took his hand, turned around, and led him down the beach.

"Adele, where are we going?" he asked.

Adele ignored him. Spike sighed and continued to follow her. She led him to a nearby dock, walked out to the edge, then stopped walking.

"Adele, what are we doing here?" Spike asked her.

"Shush," she said.

Spike shut his mouth promptly, then walked over to her.

She squeezed his hand fondly, as they looked out across the water. It was sparkling mysteriously and the birds were calling forlornly, as the sun slowly set around them.

Adele looked up at Spike, then turned toward him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Spike's hands automatically moved to her waist. Adele laid her head on his shoulder, then, with no music, they began to slow-dance together.

As they danced, the sky's color changed from blue to yellow; from yellow to green; from green to orange; from orange to purple; from purple to pink; then finally, from pink to a deep scarlet.

Unbeknownst to them, Jules had crept down nearby to where they stood, and had taken a silhouette picture of them dancing with Adele's DSLR camera. She stayed where she was, crouched down, waiting for more photographic opportunities.

After several minutes, Adele and Spike stopped dancing. She looked up at him.

"Feel better?"

Spike nodded. "Yes. Thank you."

But before Adele could respond, Spike gently took her face in his hands, leaned down, and kissed her tenderly.

When they parted, Adele was speechless. "I, um..." she said quietly, then she looked down at her feet, then back up at him. "I don't know what to say."

Spike inclined his head curiously, looking down at her. "You don't have to say anything," he said softly.

"Do you... do you think we could do it again?" Adele asked him.

Spike grinned, then leaned in and they kissed softly again. Adele wrapped her arms more securely around Spike's shoulders and she felt his arms do the same around her waist.

They kissed until they could barely breathe, then parted when they finally had to, both desperate for air. Suddenly, Adele wished she did not need oxygen to survive. Spike's kisses were warm, tender, light, and had a moment of hesitance that left her craving more each time.

Satisfied with the photos, Jules snuck back up the beach and rejoined everyone else.

After a while, they realized they needed to remember their manners and rejoin the group.

"Are you ready to go back?" Spike asked.

Adele looked conflicted. "No," she said, "but we really should."

Spike nodded, took her hand, and they walked back up to where everyone awaited their return.

Sam came forward. "Spike, I'm really—" he began, but Spike cut him off.

"It's OK, buddy," Spike said. "We'll fix it together, how about?"

Sam nodded. "Sounds good," he agreed.

The team got a fire going on the sand beach, then everyone roasted marshmallows and made s'mores until it got dark. Finally, however, the picnic had to end, when Wordy's girls got tired and needed to go home to bed. Hugs went around, then Wordy, Shelley, and the girls left.

Spike looked down at Adele. "Are you ready to go?" he asked.

Adele smiled, but again, she looked conflicted. "I think so," she said. "But I'm having such a good time, too. I don't want it to end."

Spike nodded. "Copy that," he agreed. "It's up to you."

Adele nodded. "Maybe we had better go," she said. "Thanks for bringing me along. It was a great day."

"You're welcome," Spike said, smiling down at her.

The rest of the team exchanged hugs, then they parted ways and went home.

* * *

As the summer went on, Spike and Adele's relationship continued to blossom. They spent time together whenever they could, doing all kinds of things couples do in the summertime. They went horseback riding, sailed toy boats in the water, they went dancing at nightclubs, and they went stargazing late at night.

August slowly came to a close, and with it, Adele's birthday arrived at the beginning of September. Since she was the newest member of their family, everyone decided to pitch in and make her birthday extra special.

The plan was to go to an amusement park for most of the day, then, once it got hot, head to a local non-SRU shooting range. The team knew Adele knew how to shoot a gun, having shot her dad's nine-millimeter Glock and her stepdad's shotgun as a teenager, as well as vintage military rifles, as part of a recent summer job as a time period character. So the team wanted to see just how accurate and quick of a shot she was.

It was a fun-filled morning and part of the afternoon, packed with riding roller coasters, water rides, and gorging themselves on funnel cakes, Fleischkeuchle, lefse, pizza, corn dogs, cotton candy, and more.

"Spike, how can you eat that stuff?" Adele asked Spike, as he indulged on an enormous cotton candy with Wordy's three daughters.

"Makes me sweeter," Spike said, grinning at her.

Adele chuckled. "You're already sweet," she said, leaning in for a sugary, sweet kiss.

In particular, Spike and Adele rode The Wave until they were thoroughly soaked to the bone.

"You know, we get more soaked on the bridge than on the ride," Adele pointed out, laughing as she pushed Spike's dripping hair out of his eyes.

"I agree," said Spike. He noticed she was shivering. "Are you cold?"

"A little," Adele admitted. "But it's 85 degrees out. I'll dry."

Spike nodded and smiled, then held her close, warming her with his body heat, despite the fact that he himself was also soaked.

After they had lunch, everyone changed into dry clothes and shoes and went to the shooting range.

The team chuckled with amusement, as Spike sprang into action the moment they got inside.

"OK, so first, you need the right gun," he instructed. He went over to a locked cabinet and got out two hand guns. "These are Glocks, standard nine-mils. Did you know their bullets can be purchased in both the United States and Europe?"

Adele nodded. "My dad told me."

"Since this is recreation, not official training, we couldn't use Sigs," said Spike.

"Understandable," said Adele.

Spike handed her a gun and a belt. Adele quickly put on the belt, then holstered her gun. Spike handed out guns and holsters to the rest of the team, then got one of each for himself.

"Now that we have our guns, next step is protective gear," said Spike. "We're all going to be wearing Kevlar, especially you. Standard procedure."

Adele nodded, then put on the vest Spike handed her.

"Goggles, too," said Spike, handing her a pair of goggles, after he had handed out a vest to everyone else. "We'll save night-vision shooting for another time."

Adele smiled mischievously.

"And most importantly, ear protection, especially since we're in a confined area," said Spike, handing her noise-reducing headgear.

Adele nodded and took the headgear, then she and Spike handed out headgear to everyone else.

"OK, now we go clean the guns, in case the previous person didn't," said Spike, beckoning her to follow him. "Then we go shoot your first target."

Spike showed her how to clean the gun, then they went out onto the range. When Adele saw her first target, she looked at Spike skeptically.

"I'm shooting an _orange_, Spike?"

"Yes," said Spike. "You shoot squishy fruit before you shoot our human dummy targets. That way, you'll know if you're really OK with it; not that they bleed or anything, but some people are sensitive."

Adele smirked. "Copy that," she conceded.

"Plus, if you can hit your target with an orange, you'll have good luck with our human targets, which are larger," Spike added.

Adele nodded.

Spike showed her how to load the gun, then positioned himself behind Adele and, as the rest of the team watched, helped her cock it, aim, then he took his hands away and Adele fired.

The orange exploded into juicy bits.

Adele turned and looked at Spike, surprised.

"That was sweet," she said, grinning. "No pun intended."

Spike smiled and set up another orange.

"Beginner's luck," said Sam, "try again."

"Yeah, you wish," Adele shot back, laughing.

"Again," Spike said, regaining her focus.

This time, by herself, Adele aimed, fired, and destroyed another orange.

Spike grinned. "Good work," he said. "Ready to try the human targets?"

"Yes," Adele said eagerly.

They moved to the area where the human targets stood. Adele aimed and Spike steadied her shaking hands.

"Steady," he said calmly, knowing she was excitable.

After a moment of intense concentration, Adele fired, hitting the target square in the forehead.

Spike nodded approvingly. Murmurs of agreement went around the team, including Sam.

"Again," Spike instructed.

Adele brought her weapon up, aimed, then fired again. Once, twice, three times, this time hitting the target straight in the heart each time.

Spike looked up at Ed and Greg, a surprised, impressed smile on his face.

"Adele," Ed said, clapping her on the shoulder, "you're a natural."

Adele grinned happily.

Adele watched the rest of the team take out human targets, then the group moved to the maze area of the range.

"This will be harder," said Spike. "You walk along these hallways, gun always at the ready. You get ten shots, ten targets. If you were on the team, you don't get to miss."

"I don't miss," Sam added, grinning obnoxiously.

Spike swatted him on the arm, smiling.

"Again, since it's your first time and you've never done a maze range before," Spike said, "we're going to go easy on you."

Adele nodded. "OK," she said.

"Alright," Ed said eagerly, "show time!"

Adele smiled appreciatively at him.

As Adele completed the maze range, having missed only two targets, Spike grinned, then took her gun from her and holstered it on the other side of his belt. Spike, Adele, and the team went back to the equipment storage area together. Spike unloaded both guns and put them away in the locked cabinet.

"You're pretty good," Sam said, coming up to her.

"Thanks," Adele said, smiling, as they were putting away their headgear. "This was a lot of fun."

"It's a fun hobby," said Spike. "You're a good shot."

Adele smiled, then shrugged. "Beginner's luck," she said, echoing Sam's earlier words. "Where does the Kevlar go?"

"In the cabinet with the headgear," said Spike, pointing to a second cabinet. "And it was _not _beginner's luck," he added to her in whispered tones.

Adele smiled appreciatively, then opened the cabinet and hung her vest on a hanger.

They left the shooting range and made their way back to SRU, where a surprise birthday cheesecake and ice cream awaited Adele. Everyone ate as much cheesecake and ice cream as they could possibly hold, then it was time to open presents.

There were five in total; three from the team as a whole, one from Jules herself, and one specifically from Spike. Jules stood at the ready, Adele's camera in her hands.

Adele opened the three presents from the entire team first. From the team, she received an ice cube tray, the cubes in the shape of the Batman logo, and a ceiling fan with blades shaped like Batman wings.

"Superman may work alone," said Ed, "but Batman has all the cool shit."

Everyone laughed, especially Adele.

"You guys are the best," she said, hugging each of them. "Thank you."

"Open mine next," Jules said eagerly.

"Alright," said Adele, and she tore at the wrapping paper. She opened the box to reveal Mario Bros. toad head slippers and Luigi-green-colored scarf that had mushrooms on it.

Her jaw dropped with surprise. "Jules, you rock!" she exclaimed, hugging Jules happily.

Jules laughed, returning the hug. "You're welcome."

"How did you know I love green so much?" Adele asked her.

"Oh, I just know these things," Jules teased her, laughing and winking at Spike.

Last but not least, Adele opened Spike's present to her: it was a tiny books necklace on a silver chain.

"Spike, you're the best," she said happily, leaning over to kiss him. Jules quickly snapped another picture.

Adele looked around at each member of the team, then Sophie, Clark, Shelley, and Wordy's three daughters.

"You guys are all so wonderful," Adele said sincerely to them.

She started to choke up and she clapped her hand over her mouth to hold in her sobs. But she couldn't hold back the tears of happiness.

Spike put his arm around her and she leaned against his chest, feeling happier and more content than ever before. Adele closed her eyes and smiled, snuggling closer to Spike. Then she opened her eyes and inhaled deeply, checking her emotions.

"Thank you all for this special day," she said. "This is the best birthday I've ever had."

Ed raised his glass of pink lemonade. "To many more happy birthdays," he said, smiling at her. "Adele."

"Adele," everyone echoed, before drinking their lemonade.

* * *

_The Sarge and Eddie's hazing ideas came from Google. Haven't actually tried them in real life, but it's always a possibility, lol. __Jules' prank comes straight from NCIS, although in the NCIS episode, it was a not-quite-pure indication of a murder, not a prank. __Sam's and Spike's initiations come from Flashpoint. I substituted Styrofoam peanuts for cream cheese for Sam's initiation. __Wordy's first day initiation comes from Google. Lou's comes from a movie that's due out soon, but I can't remember the title._

_Adele's birthday presents come from Pinterest, although of course I want my own! Lol._

_The amusement park scene is based off Valleyfair in Shakopee, Minnesota... love that place, miss it so much, haven't been there in eight years, need to take my girlfriends with me and go back SOON._

_I think that about covers it. Please review! It's nearly 2:15am now and I have had a long day, with surgery this morning and a seven-hour drive as soon as I was released. So I plan on sleeping until about 1pm tomorrow, er, this afternoon... hehe._

_Up next: I will probably start chapter 7 tomorrow. Adele will meet Spike's parents and vise versa, then they will get through Lou's death together. Be prepared._

_Until next time, lots of love,_

_horseaholic_


	7. Family

_Hey, all,_

_Sorry this took longer than usual. I blame recovering from surgery. To make up for it, it's REALLY long... 17 pages in my Microsoft Word program._

_Just to clarify, in this story, Spike is an only child._

_Also for clarification, remember from chapter 1 that Adele's twin sister has cerebral palsy, so she might talk differently than most people and such, as she has the IQ of about a first-grader, if that, and her physical abilities are that of basically a just-walking infant's._

_Here is chapter 7. It is meet-the-parents, which I don't particularly like writing, but it's time. Bear with me._

**Chapter 7**

* * *

"Hey, Spike, I wanted to ask you something," Adele said to Spike, as they were cooking dinner together the following night, Sunday, September sixth.

"Yes, Adele?" Spike asked.

"I've been thinking..." Adele began.

"A dangerous pastime," Spike teased her, then he ducked as she aimed a swipe at his head.

"We've been dating for three months now," said Adele, "and neither of us has met each other's families."

Spike nodded cautiously. "Uh huh," he said, waiting for her to go on.

"And, well, I know your family lives out of town, so I thought maybe we could take a day trip and go visit them," Adele finished. "Or at least go spend an evening with them, since Woodbridge is only about 40 minutes away and I've never seen your house."

"Oh," said Spike. "Adele, I don't know..."

"What?" Adele asked, confused.

"Let's just say, my dad and I haven't always had the greatest relationship," said Spike. "He and I differ greatly in our views of my job. It has caused a lot of tension and hurt and pain over the years."

"Babe, this isn't about your job, it's about who you are and the man you've become, and the life you now lead. A life," Adele added, looking up at him, "I hope that I'm included in."

"Sweetie, of course you are," said Spike.

"So why don't you want me to meet your parents, babe?" Adele asked. "Relationships have their ups and downs all the time. Maintaining good relationships with families takes work, and it's always changing."

"I just don't think it's exactly necessary," said Spike. "I'm close with my mom, but I don't believe I'm required to introduce my girlfriend to the parentals, being the age I am."

Adele nodded slowly. "I guess I can live with that," she said, shrugging.

"But if it's really something you want, Adele," Spike conceded, "I'll do it."

"Really?" Adele asked him eagerly.

"Really," said Spike. "But just to warn you, my mother is pretty intense."

"How so?" Adele asked curiously.

"She's a wonderful caretaker, but she often doesn't know when she does too much or if she makes people uncomfortable by being overbearing or going too out of her way," said Spike.

"She sounds sweet," Adele said, smiling. "I'm excited to meet her. Does she ever call you anything other than Michelangelo?"

"Mikey, but it ends there."

"Not Spike?"

"Oh no," Spike said, shaking his head furiously, "definitely not Spike; that's team-only... and you, of course."

"Why?"

"She always says, if she had wanted to call me something else, it would have been on my birth certificate."

Adele chuckled. "So... Friday?" she suggested.

"Friday," Spike promised her, smiling.

* * *

"Mikey!" Mrs. Scarlatti exclaimed happily, on Friday the eleventh, as she opened the front door of the small bungalow, to see her son standing there with Adele. She hugged him and he leaned down and she kissed him on both cheeks. "You're here! Here, let me look at you." She gave him a quick once-over, then she smiled.

"Hi, Ma," said Spike. "I'm still the same as this morning." He laughed. "This is my girlfriend, Adele."

"Hello, Adele, I'm Michelina," said Mrs. Scarlatti, smiling warmly.

Adele chuckled. "Aw, your mom named you after herself," she said, looking up at him. "Cute."

Spike blushed, then smiled and nodded.

"You look wonderful, Mikey," said Mrs. Scarlatti. "You look happy."

"I am happy, Ma," Spike said, smiling at his mother.

"Good. I just put a sausage penne on the table. Hurry up and come in and sit down to eat it before it gets cold," Mrs. Scarlatti insisted.

Adele grinned at Spike, then they walked into the house and stepped into the dining room. Mrs. Scarlatti had set out plates, cups, silverware, and napkins for three people, expecting only Spike to join them for dinner. In the middle of the table rested a bowl of tossed salad and an enormous bowl of sausage penne, permeating the small house with delicious spicy fragrance.

A moment later, as Mrs. Scarlatti was setting out another set of silverware, a plate and a glass for Adele, Spike's father came walking into the dining room.

"Adele, this is my sweet cheeks, Dominic," Michelina gushed lovingly, hugging her husband fondly. Dominic accepted the hug awkwardly.

"Hello, Mr. Scarlatti, I'm Adele," Adele introduced herself, holding out her hand for him to shake.

To Spike's surprise, Dominic lifted a shaking hand and met Adele's in a handshake.

"So, are you hungry, Adele?" Michelina asked her.

"Yes, I am, Mrs. Scarlatti," said Adele, smiling. "Thank you. I hope my joining you and your family for dinner isn't horribly presumptuous."

"No, no, it's quite alright. Sit, sit, please," Michelina said eagerly.

Spike pulled out a chair for Adele, then she sat down at the table and he sat in a chair next to her. They talked throughout dinner, talking about how Spike and Adele met (sensitizing the details), how long they had been dating, as well as Adele's family and how the past few months had been for them. Then they enjoyed a glass of wine and Oreo cheesecake Spike's mom had made for dessert.

Adele looked over at Spike to find him finishing his third slice of cheesecake.

"Babe, how on earth do you eat all that and not gain a pound?" she asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm immune," Spike said, grinning.

Everyone laughed, even Mr. Scarlatti. Then he dissolved into a coughing fit.

"Are you OK, Mr. Scarlatti?" Adele asked him, as Mrs. Scarlatti got him a glass of water and the fit ended.

Mr. Scarlatti nodded. Adele glanced at Spike who, with an almost imperceptible shake of his head and a glance back at her, told her she was not to ask what had just happened. He squeezed her hand under the table; she knew he would tell her later.

After finishing dessert, Spike gave Adele a quick tour of the rest of the house, including his basement suite where he still lived.

"It's not much," he said, "but it's home."

"I think it's brilliant," said Adele.

Spike smiled appreciatively.

"At dinner, your dad," Adele asked, "is he OK?"

Suddenly, Spike's expression changed dramatically from goofy and bubbly to one of strain.

"Adele, he's sick," he said.

"Sick?"

Spike nodded. "He's dying."

Adele was stunned. "Spike... Babe, I'm so sorry," she said, looking up at him. "What from?"

"Lung cancer," Spike answered.

Adele sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, babe. How can I help?"

Spike shook his head. "You can't," he said. "But it's OK. We're doing OK."

Adele nodded and pulled him into a comforting hug.

"I'm here for you, OK?"

"Thanks, sweetie."

They let go of each other, then went back upstairs. It was time to head back to Toronto; laden, of course, with sausage penne leftovers, at the insistence of Spike's mother.

"Thank you so much for dinner, Mrs. Scarlatti," Adele said, hugging Spike's mother affectionately. "It was wonderful."

Mrs. Scarlatti seemed surprised for a second at the gesture, then she returned it happily.

"She is a hugger," Spike said, smiling at his mother.

Adele released Mrs. Scarlatti from the hug and looked at her, smiling, from arm's length.

"We promise to give you more notice for next time," said Adele.

Mrs. Scarlatti sighed happily. "Well, I can tell you are a wonderful girl for my baby boy, and that you're happy together," she said. "He's my one chance to do things right."

Adele smiled. "You've done a wonderful job with him, Mr. and Mrs. Scarlatti," she said. "He's a great man. I'm glad to know there are people like him out there in the world to protect us."

Mr. and Mrs. Scarlatti nodded.

"I need to take Adele home, Ma," Spike said. "I'll be back in about an hour."

"OK, Mikey," Mrs. Scarlatti said. "Go have fun."

"Thanks, Ma," Spike said, smiling. "See you later."

He kissed his mother on the cheek, then left with Adele.

* * *

As far as weeks went for the SRU, the following week was a quiet one. With no hot calls, the team spent their time patrolling, doing drills, assisting with car breakdowns and keys locked in cars, and they spent Wednesday afternoon monitoring a protest at Toronto General Hospital. It had been monitored well, was relatively peaceful, and no arrests had been made.

The weekend arrived and Spike and Adele found themselves, as per usual, spending it together. As soon as Spike got off work on Friday night, after a quick word with his mom over the phone, he met Adele at her apartment and they enjoyed a delicious early-birthday meal of barbecued ribs, cheesy potatoes, and peas.

After dinner, Spike helped Adele wash the dishes. Spike playfully flicked water at her and she paid him back by drenching him with the sink sprayer. Once the dishes were done, they went out for drinks. Then they spent the rest of the evening reading books in companionable silence.

Eventually, they decided it was time to go to bed. Adele changed into her pajamas and Spike stripped down to his boxers, and they wrapped their arms around each other and fell asleep.

* * *

On Sunday, Spike's birthday, they got up early and spent the morning at Riverdale Farm, riding horses before it got hot. Once it got warm, they gave their horses a break, allowing them to drink their fill at a nearby pond and munch on grass, while Adele and Spike enjoyed a birthday picnic lunch of crackers, cheese, summer sausage, peaches, watermelon, deviled eggs, and lemonade.

"Spike," Adele asked, as she took a bite of her luscious summer peach, "do you want to meet my family?"

Spike swallowed his bite of watermelon, then looked at her.

"Sure," he said. "Are you OK with it?"

Adele nodded. "I haven't been home in a while," she said, looking uneasy. "It could be OK..."

Spike nodded, remembering her pained words on the bridge back in May. "How about tomorrow?" he suggested.

"Let me give them a call and ask," said Adele.

She pulled out her cell phone and hit speed dial 2. After two rings, someone picked up on the other end. "Hey, Dad, it's Adele. How are you? Yeah, I'm good. I've been really busy with work, too. Is that Callie? Ask her if it's OK if Spike and I come over for a while tonight, say, dinner and watch the race for a bit? OK, we'll see you at six. Alright, bye."

She hung up and looked at Spike. "Alright, you ready for this?" she teased him.

"Are you?" he responded, smiling.

Adele smiled. They packed up the leftovers of the picnic lunch, placed them in the saddlebags, then rode back to the stables. They unsaddled the horses, walked them to cool them down, then gave them a good brushing before they left the stables, taking their leftovers with them.

* * *

They spent the rest of the afternoon watching movies, picking them with their eyes closed and stealing special birthday kisses with every pick. Eventually, it was time to head over to Adele's dad's house for dinner with her dad's half of the family.

"So what's your family like?" Spike asked, wanting to get in on some details, as to what he was up against.

"My dad, Matthew, is a CPA," Adele said. "My twin sister lives at OHMA— Open Hearts, Minds, Arms— Group Home full-time, ever since my dad got hurt in a motorcycle accident two years ago. But she visits every Sunday, to watch my dad's race and have dinner with us and stuff. She has cerebral palsy. She calls the group home 'her apartment.'"

Spike nodded; he already knew some of these details, of course, from the day they stopped Adele from jumping from the bridge. But she didn't need to know that.

"My stepmom, Callie, stepdad, Jack, and my mom, Stella, are all retired," said Adele. "But Callie worked for a utilities company for 30 years, my stepdad worked in public relations and advertising for 40 years, and my mom was a librarian for 30 years before she retired early, due to mental health problems."

Spike nodded again. He made a quick mental note that Adele's claim to depression and anxiety was genetic.

"My dad and Callie like motorcycles and traveling, and Jack and my mom enjoy traveling, but also enjoy the quiet life of reading, gardening, and going for walks," said Adele. "My parents divorced when I was eight and were both remarried by the time I was 15."

"So I have _two_ protective fathers to deal with," Spike said nervously. "Copy that. So did you inherit any of these skills from your parents?"

Adele chuckled. "Well, I despise math," she said, "but I can type faster than anyone I know and I am a master at grammar, punctuation and spelling."

Spike smiled. He felt a little more ready to meet Adele's family.

* * *

"Whoa."

Adele looked over at Spike, as they drove up a long driveway. "What is it, babe?" she asked.

Spike looked around, rather than at her, at the large front yard and large log house. "You _live _here?" he asked.

"I grew up here, yeah," said Adele, as though it was nothing. "Why?"

"Um, because your house is _huge_," said Spike, comparing it to his parents' small bungalow.

He was exaggerating, of course; Adele's house was not huge, but was a nice size, a log cabin with three floors, a large front yard with side acreage and a bird bath, and bird feeders dangled from the two crab apple trees in the center of the front yard. They also had a three-stall garage, the doors of which were wide open on the beautiful summer day. Spike noticed a Toyota Camry, a Toyota Sequoia, and three motorcycles in the stalls.

"Your dad's place is beautiful, Adele," said Spike.

"Thanks," Adele said, smiling at him. "And before you ask, no, my parents aren't rich. They're well enough off, but not rich."

"I wasn't going to, Adele," Spike assured her softly.

Spike swallowed nervously. Adele squeezed his hand encouragingly as they entered the house without knocking, through the side garage door. The brown oak door creaked loudly, announcing their presence.

There was no one in the kitchen or the office. There was a pot boiling macaroni noodles and a saucepan simmering on the stove. Adele walked over and sniffed deeply.

"Mm," she said appreciatively, "Callie's making goulash."

"Wonderful," Spike said happily.

"They're probably in the family room, watching the race," said Adele. "My dad's a huge NASCAR fan and, well, it's Sunday."

Spike nodded.

They heard a bark, then there was a sound of rapidly pattering feet, and a Chihuahua came racing into the kitchen, his feet sliding awkwardly on the tiled floor, as he made a beeline for Adele.

"Hi, little boy!" she exclaimed happily to him, as he jumped up and down excitedly. She picked him up and he wiggled furiously in her arms, licking her face furiously. "Oh yes, how are you, my little man? Oh my goodness, you are so crazy, boy-o. Spike," she added, in between ducking licks and paws in her face, "this is Bruizer, our Pomeranian-Chihuahua mix. He's mostly Chow. He is four months old."

Spike nodded and tried to pet the dog, but he shied away.

"He will warm up to you eventually, if you play with him," said Adele.

She set him down and he raced away.

They waited a moment, as Spike took in the house's interior; an office, on the first right turn off the kitchen, then a small bathroom, and a bedroom. The dining room was just off to the left of the kitchen, adjoined to the living room and family room. Upstairs, Spike could see doors to two bedrooms, an adjoining bathroom, and what he guessed to be a leisure space on the other side of the staircase, above them.

Adele smiled and, holding hands, they walked to the family room on the west side of the house.

An older woman sat on the smaller of two couches, a laptop resting on her lap. Bruizer jumped onto the couch and lay beside her on a green blanket. A balding black-haired man with a greying goatee and mustache lay the entire length of the longer couch, watching the NASCAR race. A petite girl, whom Spike assumed to be Kate, sat in a small rocking chair just her size, playing with what Spike could see was a Quantum Leappad. An auburn-colored Golden Retriever lay on a rug, on the floor next to a cast-iron wood-burning stove.

"Hi," said the woman, looking up from her laptop.

"Oh... hi, Adele!" said Kate happily, smiling brightly up at her.

"Hi," Adele replied, smiling. "Dad, Callie, this is my boyfriend, Spike."

"It's actually Michelangelo, but I mostly go by Spike," Spike added.

"Nice to meet you, Spike," said Callie.

"Likewise, Mrs. Black," said Spike.

"Oh, call me Callie."

"OK."

"Hello," said Matthew.

"Do you go by Matt," Spike asked him, "or do you prefer Matthew?"

"Just Matthew," Adele's father answered.

"Copy that," said Spike.

"Kate," Adele said, addressing her sister directly, to make sure she was paying attention, "this is Spike."

"Oh..." Kate said slowly, another bright smile emerging on her face. "Hi, Spike."

"Hi, Kate," Spike said, smiling at her. "What are you doing?"

"Oh..." said Kate. She paused for a moment, perhaps thinking about what to tell him. "I'm... I'm playing with my Quantum Pad."

"Cool," Spike said conversationally. "What else are you doing?"

"Uh," said Kate, "watching the race."

"Neat," said Spike.

"Oh, and last but certainly not least," said Adele, going over to the Golden Retriever and petting her, "Spike, this is Jessie, the best darn family dog you will ever meet."

Spike smiled. Adele came back over to sit by him and coaxed Jessie to come over to them. Jessie rose, slowly due to age, and came over and, after a moment's effort, sat next to them.

"Good girl," Adele said, stroking her pretty red head before burying her face in Jessie's soft, long fur. Jessie sat still, her tail gently wagging back and worth, enjoying the attention.

After a few minutes, Jessie lay down, and Bruizer jumped off the couch and whined at Adele and Spike.

"He wants you to play with him," Adele explained, after Callie and Matthew confirmed Bruizer did not need to go outside.

"OK," said Spike, "what should I use?"

"Hmm," Adele said, considering this for a second. "My top suggestions are either Aflac or his skunk."

"I'll try Aflac first."

"OK. Just so you know, he doesn't quite understand fetch. We've been trying to teach him, and he does alright, but there's a break in the connection somewhere."

Spike laughed.

"Let me demonstrate for you."

"Alright," Spike said, grinning and leaning back to enjoy the show.

Adele sat down in the doorway and, quick as a flash, seeing his Aflac duck toy in her hand, Bruizer was sitting in front of her, waiting not-so-patiently. Spike could see him vibrating with pent-up energy, poised to spring.

Then, after another moment's hesitation, she threw it as far as she could. "Go get it!"

Bruizer took off like a shot after the toy. To Spike's surprise, he brought it back.

"He seems to get it," said Spike.

"Wait for it," said Adele, as Bruizer proceeded to lay down with it, placing his front paws over it protectively. "See?" Spike nodded. "But he and I have an understanding... sort of." To the Chihuahua, in a playful voice, she asked, "Can I have it?" Bruizer whined, as though he understood her.

"Let me guess, he wants you to try and take it from him?"

"Of course," Adele said, grinning. Looking at Bruizer, she said, "Want me to throw it?" The puppy whined again. "Can I have it?"

This time, when Bruizer whined, Adele made a mad attempt to steal the toy. For several moments, she and Bruizer wrestled over it, Bruizer growling ferociously, before he released it.

"He sounds ferocious," Adele said, "but he is all noise and no threat. He's a very good boy, even though he likes it rough." She grinned.

Spike laughed.

After a few more rounds of fetch, a timer beeped in the kitchen and Callie announced it was time for dinner. Spike kindly helped Adele assist Kate in walking to the dinner table and he pulled out a chair for her to sit down on, and pushed her closer to the table once she had sat down. Adele smiled and nodded approvingly.

"So how long have you been dating?" Callie asked, as everyone sat down and began to pass the dishes.

"Three months tomorrow," Spike answered. "Our first date was actually my company's family picnic."

"It's actually Spike's birthday today," Adele added.

"Well, Happy Birthday, Spike," Callie and Matthew said together.

"Happy Birthday, Spike!" Kate echoed, grinning.

"Thanks, guys," Spike said, smiling and blushing.

"Who do you work for, Spike?" Matthew asked.

"I'm part of the police Strategic Response Unit," Spike responded. "My partner, Lou, and I are responsible for getting my team eyes in, defusing bombs, and gathering intel. I also have an anti-explosives robot named Babycakes."

Callie chuckled. "Cute name," she said. "Are you from Toronto?"

"I live with my parents, just outside of Toronto, in Woodbridge," Spike answered.

Callie nodded. "Has Adele met your parents yet?" she asked.

"Yes," Adele jumped in, before Spike could respond. "I adore his mom. His dad is nice, too."

"Good."

After dinner, Spike and Adele helped clear away the dishes and clean up. Spike quizzed Kate on the United States' capitols, as she had them all memorized from a game on her Quantum Pad, and she didn't miss a beat.

"You are awesome at the capitols, Kate," Spike told her. Kate grinned.

"We always joke she should work as a greeter at a grocery store or something," Adele told him.

"That'd be a great job for her."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Spike asked Kate a few more questions, getting to know her a little better, like what her favorite movie was ("Finding Nemo"), her favorite color (red), and with the input of Adele and her parents, he learned that she loved canoeing, camping in their big blue tent, going for walks (in her big red baby jogger), and that she loved to listen to classical music, as well as lullabies, Raffi, Disney tunes, and other children's songs. She even said she liked the Harry Potter movies.

"Gee, I wonder who she got that from," Spike said, winking at Adele.

Adele smiled.

"What track is this, Matthew?" Spike asked, turning his attention to the ongoing race. "Adele told me you're a NASCAR fan."

"Chicago."

"Who are your favorite drivers?"

"Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman," Matthew answered.

"His favorite was Rusty Wallace, before Rusty retired. My uncles, his little brothers, like Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jimmie Johnson, and Jeff Gordon," said Adele.

"Aha," said Spike, "so it's a whole fun family affair."

Matthew nodded and a smile crossed his face.

"Do you watch any other sports?" Spike asked.

"I watch the Super Bowl, but that's about it."

"Yeah, I'm not a sports guy myself," Spike said in agreement.

"Callie and I share a love for horses and horse racing," said Adele. "But she watches more races than I do; I usually only watch the Triple Crown."

They continued to play with Bruizer and give Jessie some attention as well. An hour or so passed, then Spike could tell Adele was getting bored with watching the race. They looked at each other and silently decided it was time to go.

"Well, Dad, Callie, this has been fun," said Adele, standing, "but I think we're gonna head out."

"Thanks for dinner, Callie," said Spike.

"You're welcome," Callie said, smiling at him. "Thanks for stopping by. It was nice to meet you."

"You too. It was nice to meet you, Matthew," Spike said to Adele's father.

"Nice to meet you, too," Matthew said, standing up and holding out his hand, which Spike shook firmly.

"Bye, Kate, I'll see you around, OK?" Spike said to Kate.

"Bye, Spike," Kate said brightly, smiling up at him.

Adele gave Kate a big hug, then she and Spike made their way to the door, accompanied by Bruizer. Adele bent down and petted him lovingly, before they got in her car and left.

They met the team at the Goose for spontaneous birthday drinks, then headed back to Spike's house.

"So what do you think?" Adele asked, as they drove back to the Scarlatti residence.

"I think your family is really nice," said Spike. "I didn't get any bad first impressions at all. Your sister is really sweet and really smart. And your dad seems nice."

"Yeah, he's just serious," said Adele. "I mean, until you get to know him anyway. Then he's a total goof and entirely happy to be happy."

Spike smiled approvingly. "Copy that," he said.

As they pulled into the driveway at the Scarlatti residence, Spike looked over and said, "Adele, can I ask you something?"

Adele put the vehicle in park, then looked at him. "Sure."

"I don't mean to rain on the parade, but—"

"My parade? Spike, it's _your _birthday."

"I know, but I'm confused. Back in May," Spike began, "when you were on the bridge, you said 'my dad and stepdad don't care.' They seem to be really nice people who care a great deal for you and love you."

"They do, Spike," said Adele. "It's my _depression _they don't love." Spike was quiet, waiting for Adele to explain. She sighed heavily. "I'm glad it didn't come up at dinner tonight, but here's the deal. My dad acknowledges that I have a 'slightly higher anxiety level than most'. However, he refuses to believe that I have any sort of depression. But I know that's only because, when I'm around friends and family and others I love, doing things I love, it doesn't affect me as much."

Spike nodded. "I understand," he said. "I'm sorry if I upset you by asking, but—"

"It's fine, Spike," Adele said quickly, in a tone of voice that told Spike it clearly wasn't. "Let's just say that, with my dad, depression is an unspoken, buried issue. Even my stepmom, who has had depression for about 25 years, doesn't understand why I have it like I do."

Spike nodded. "That's hard."

Adele sighed. "You have no idea. My dad openly expresses his dislike of my being in therapy, but sometimes writing just isn't enough. Having a neutral, professional third person to talk to is a huge relief."

"I think he's concerned for you, Adele," said Spike, "maybe even worried or scared."

"He's got a hell of a way of showing it, by not showing it and by not talking to me about it to my face."

"Maybe he doesn't know how to show it or talk about it; it's a guy thing."

She looked over at him, frustrated. "You're not like that."

"I'm different," said Spike. "I've learned how to deal with all kinds of people in my job."

Adele nodded. "Got it," she said. "I don't know if I will ever sum up enough courage to come clean to him about my depression. My mom suffered from it since the day my sister and I were born, and between that and raising a child with special needs, they eventually divorced. I don't want it to impact my life so much. I don't want it at all, damn it."

Spike nodded understandingly. "That's the first step to getting better," he said, "is someone wants to get help. And you are, with your medications and being in therapy and stuff."

Adele nodded.

They got out of the car and Adele walked with Spike to the front door.

"I had a good time tonight," he said, kissing her forehead. "Thank you. What are your plans for tomorrow?"

Adele shrugged. "Probably not a lot," she said, "besides reading and sleeping in. It's my day off."

"Mine, too," said Spike. "Did you want to plan something with your mom and stepdad?"

"Sure," said Adele. "I'll text them when I get home."

"OK. How about we make plans over breakfast tomorrow?" Adele nodded. Spike lifted her chin with his finger and they kissed. "Text me when you get home, alright?"

"I will. Happy Birthday."

Spike pulled her into his arms and they shared a long embrace.

"Goodnight, Adele," he said softly, kissing her forehead again, when they let go.

"Goodnight, Spike," Adele said, smiling at him before she walked back to her car.

* * *

_Woof... Sorry if it was exceedingly long... I did my best to shorten it, but I didn't have a lot of luck._

_So I've decided for Spike to meet Adele's mom and stepdad in the next chapter. Can't believe I'm up to chapter 8 already, and... well, you'll see!_

_Coming up: Meet the parents, take 2, and the part I've been giving you heads-up about: Lou's death. I thought it would happen a chapter or so ago, but the characters apparently had other ideas. ;)_

_Alright, it is 3am and I _**need **_to go to bed. Last night, I was only up til 12:30 and I slept til 1pm! =/ Can't believe my parents left me alone that long. The perks of recovering from surgery..._

_I will probably start chapter 8 sometime tomorrow, whenever I rise from the dead, lol. Barring family things, I will work on it as much as I can handle. Goodnight, all!_

_Reviews!_


	8. Three Little Words

_For some reason, I think there is a delay in chapter posting notifications, so I'm trying posting chapter 8 up again. Hope you guys get it this time.)_

_Issuing a potential Kleenex warning for this chapter's end. This will be your only warning._

**Chapter 8**

* * *

The next day, Monday, September 21, was Spike's day off. He and Adele got together for breakfast with Spike's parents, then spent the day meandering around the city, before they headed over to Adele's mom's house.

As they walked up the terra cotta-and-green stone front steps to the house, Adele looked at Spike.

"Spike, your collar is popped," she said, grimacing slightly.

"I know," he said nonchalantly, shrugging, "that's how I like it."

Adele gave him a look. "But I— well, alright, whatever," she said. "You're such a geek."

"I'm not just a geek," Spike pointed out, smiling playfully. "I'm a geek with combat skills. It's why you love me."

"Hmm, yeah," said Adele, leaning up to kiss him.

Adele's mom's house was smaller, and instead of a grassy front yard, she had laid down mulch, through which flowers bloomed. There was also a fenced-in backyard. Spike could see a car parked in the garage, and a Jeep was parked in the driveway.

They entered the house without knocking and a black-and-white Springer Spaniel came running at them, barking.

"Bella!" Adele exclaimed happily. Bella, seeing someone she knew, stopped barking and jumped up and placed her paws on Adele's stomach, in a kind of "doggie hug."

"I'm the only one in the family she is allowed to do this to. The best part about Bella," Adele explained to Spike, "is even if you are gone for only an hour, she will greet you as though you've been gone a decade."

Spike grinned. Adele cuddled with her for a moment, before Bella jumped back down so Adele could hug her mom and stepdad, as they came down the stairs to greet her.

"Hi, Mom," Adele said warmly, smiling at her mother.

"Hi!" Stella said brightly, smiling as she hugged her daughter lovingly. "Oh, I missed you."

"Missed you," Adele replied, letting go of her mother to hug her stepdad. "Hey."

"Hey, kiddo," said Jack, smiling. "We're glad to have you here. We like it when a little blue car pulls up in our driveway."

Adele smiled. "Mom, Jack, this is my boyfriend, Spike," she said. "Spike, this is my mom, Stella, and my stepdad, Jack."

"Nice to meet you," said Stella and Jack together, and Spike shook their hands.

"Likewise, Stella, Jack," Spike replied.

"How long are you two staying?" Stella asked.

"Just until tonight," said Adele. "Spike has to be at work by five tomorrow morning and I have to be at work by eight and I don't particularly want to get up at four a.m. to get him back home."

"Have you eaten yet?" Stella asked.

"We had a big breakfast," Adele replied, "but we haven't eaten since then."

"Well, come in and sit down," said Stella, beckoning them to the kitchen table. "I've got barbecued ribs, mashed potatoes, and salad ready to eat. Adele texted me last night that you'd be coming around."

"That sounds fantastic," said Spike.

"Would you like a glass of wine, Spike?" Stella asked, producing a bottle of both red and white wine.

"Oh. Thanks, Stella, but no," said Spike.

"She makes the best ribs in the world," said Jack, smiling at Stella, as he poured her a glass of white wine, then himself a glass of red wine.

Over dinner, they got to know each other. Spike talked about his hobbies, which included watching sitcoms, reading cooking magazines, cooking, and reading political and historical literature. He learned that Jack enjoyed hunting, fishing, and golfing, while Stella enjoyed reading, gardening, and other outdoor activities, like kayaking, canoeing, hiking, camping, and going for walks.

"Seriously, Stella," Spike said, as he finished his last bite of rib, "I agree with Jack. You will have to stop making these or I am going to have to buy new pants. And that's not a good thing when you work for SRU."

Stella chuckled appreciatively. "So you work for the SRU, Spike," she said. "What does that stand for?"

"Strategic Response Unit," Spike responded. "We respond to things the normal police force can't handle, or when things get out of control; like guns, knives, domestic abuse, hostage situations, stuff like that."

"Are you in the field a lot?" Jack asked.

"I'm always in the field," said Spike, "but not with things like rescuing hostages and taking down subjects, not usually, anyway. I'm usually in the van, running tactics and gathering intel. I also defuse bombs, by myself or with my partner, Lou, or with my bomb-defusing robotic sidekick, Babycakes."

Jack nodded, taking a sip of wine.

"So what do you hunt, Jack?" Spike asked him.

"Primarily pheasant, geese, and ducks," Jack responded. "Occasionally, grouse."

After lunch, they spent the rest of the afternoon by taking a long walk at a nearby park, then played a few different card games. Finally, they settled down to watch a movie together, choosing "The Hurt Locker."

When the movie was over, it was time for Spike and Adele to head home. They bid goodbye to her parents, Spike shook Jim's hand, then they left.

* * *

When they arrived back at Adele's apartment, Spike went inside with her. Right away, she went over to her tea kettle and began making a pot of tea.

"Will you stay for a cup of tea?" she asked him. "It might help you decompress from the whole 'meet the parents' thing."

"Sure," Spike answered.

While the tea brewed, they exchanged small talk, mostly relaying back and forth their highlights of the last two days.

The tea kettle whistled and Adele poured them each a cup of chamomile tea. But instead of drinking hers right away, Spike noticed she sat in silence, not looking at him, and chewing her lip— something she always did when she had something on her mind or was nervous.

He inclined his head into her line of vision and placed his hand over top of hers. "What's up?"

After a moment, Adele said, "I worry, you know."

"What do you mean?" Spike asked.

"I worry," Adele explained, "every day, when you go to work." She looked up at him.

Spike nodded patiently. "I understand," he said.

"No, you don't understand!"

Suddenly, to Spike's surprise, Adele's voice rose and she stood up swiftly and slammed her teacup on the table, spilling its contents all over the tablecloth. She stared at Spike and, for the first time, he saw a different look of anguish and anger in her eyes.

"Every day, Spike, you go to work, not knowing what to expect. You can't tell me there haven't been moments where you've been scared or wondering how the hell your team was going to make it." She began to pace furiously. "Every day, I find myself wondering if you're OK." To Spike's alarm, tears welled up in Adele's eyes. "Every day, I don't know if you're hurt or even if you're going to come back to me."

Spike stood up and went over to her and gently grasped her arms. "Adele, you can't let it consume you like that," he said. "You will go crazy."

The tears fell down her face, and in between sobs, she whispered, "I'm already crazy."

"Adele, you're not crazy," Spike said, shaking his head. He lifted her chin with his finger. "Do you hear me? Not crazy. It is perfectly normal to worry."

"I know; it's just hard." Adele looked down. "I'm glad there are people like you and Jules and the rest of your team, looking out for people like me, protecting us, even when we don't want to protect ourselves."

Spike couldn't help himself; he smiled. "There's nowhere else I'd rather be," he assured her.

Adele nodded and looked up, deep into his chocolate-brown eyes.

"I love you, Spike." She caressed his face, as if trying to memorize it for life in that single moment. She shook her head. "I've never felt like this about anyone before. I can't lose you. I won't survive."

She pulled him into a deep, passionate kiss. When they parted, Spike looked down at her.

"_Anch'io ti amo_."

Adele smiled, kissed Spike again, then hugged him, laughing and crying at the same time.

When they let go, she said quietly, "I'm sorry I yelled at you."

Spike shrugged. "Ah," he said calmly, smiling, "it's OK. You needed to get it out of your system."

Adele nodded. "Yeah, I did," she said, smiling and holding him close.

* * *

The following day had not been an easy one for the team, having to handle a series of bomb threats throughout the city, set by an environmental extremist group. Fortunately, they had succeeded in defusing two of the three bombs, but not before Lou accidentally stepped on a buried landmine next to the third bomb, which he was about to begin attempting to defuse.

Spike, ever-determined to save his best friend, had followed in Lou's footsteps to him, searching for landmines with a ground-penetrating radar device along the way and marking them with orange cones. He had dug alongside the device, to see what he was up against. His blood had run cold when he realized it was a CR38 Russian bounding mine. His hopes had been further dashed when he realized he could not re-pin the device; the bomber had glued the hole. Spike couldn't even touch it.

Despite his team's disapproval, together, he and Lou came up with the idea to try a water weight transfer.

"Spike."

"Yeah, buddy?" Spike asked, as he walked toward the team with his bag, to get a shield and water, to attempt the weight transfer. "Lou!" he said, when there was no response after a moment.

"It's gonna be OK," Lou said to him, the assurance in his words not quite masking the fear.

"Lou?"

Spike slowed his walk, then stopped.

Next moment, in the explosion that sounded, without turning around, Spike knew what had happened. Lou was gone.

Spike screamed and fell to his knees. The team, all except Sam, who had turned and walked away, could only watch as Greg slowly walked out to where Spike lay on his knees, overcome with grief. Greg got down on one knee and put a consolingly arm around Spike's shoulders. But it did no good. All Spike could do was cry and scream in agony, even as his sergeant's arms wrapped around him consolingly and hid the world from view. Rocking him gently back and forth, like a baby.

After a few minutes, however, Greg knew they had to let the rest of the response teams through, to clear the wreckage, to put out the flames, to take care of Lou's remains.

"Spike," he said quietly, rubbing Spike's shoulders, "we have to go."

"No," Spike responded.

"Spike, we have to," said Greg, starting to coax him up. "Come on."

"No! No!" Spike yelled, struggling against Greg's gentle-but-firm grasp. "We can't go! I can't leave him!"

"Spike... Spike, look at me," said Greg. Spike looked up at him, unshed tears shining in his eyes. "He's gone. We'll get through this. Somehow, we'll get through this."

Spike's body shook with more sobs, but he finally let Greg pull him away from the scene. They walked back over to the team. The second he got close enough, Jules, ignoring her own tears, took Spike into her arms, holding him close, letting him cry, as they made their way back to the SUVs.

As they drove in silence back to Headquarters, Spike sent a quick text to Adele.

_Can I come by later?_

It was only three p.m. Knowing she was at work, he didn't expect her to respond right away. But she did.

_I get off at 7._

Spike didn't reply; his mind was already made up.

The team debriefed as quickly as they could, then everyone went home. His mind, his entire body, felt numb. Upon arriving home, he looked imploringly at his mother, who was cutting vegetables.

"Mikey," she said cheerfully.

Spike didn't speak; instead, he merely shook his head.

"_Cosa è successo_?" she asked him.

As he broke down into more tears, Mrs. Scarlatti rushed over to him.

"Mikey!" she exclaimed, alarmed at her son's meltdown.

She held him comfortingly, as only a mother could, as the sobs shook his body and the tears flowed freely, unchecked, unrestrained.

Later, Spike and his parents were sitting down to dinner. But Spike couldn't eat. He sat still, barely breathing, staring into space.

Mr. Scarlatti's hand shook badly, spilling his glass of wine everywhere.

"Pa," Spike said, snapping out of his thoughts, and standing and grabbing napkins, to clean up the mess.

"_Basta_," Mr. Scarlatti said, gesturing for him to stop. But Spike wasn't listening. Mrs. Scarlatti leaned over to assist. "_BASTA!_" yelled Mr. Scarlatti.

Spike stopped and looked at his father with anticipation.

"Every day, this is my life," said Mr. Scarlatti, "waiting for the phone to ring, the officer at the door." Mr. Scarlatti pointed an accusing finger at his son. "You bring this into our house."

"Pa, I don't think now is the time, OK?" Spike warned him.

"Sit down, please," said Mrs. Scarlatti, trying to calm the storm before it began.

"Every day, you go out there and you play the hero—"

"'Play?' What, you think this is a game?" Spike demanded.

"Today, your friend dies. Tomorrow, my son dies," said Mr. Scarlatti.

"One day, we all die, OK?" Spike argued defensively. Mr. Scarlatti made a loud noise of disagreement and walked out of the room. "At least you try and make it mean something!" Spike yelled after his father.

"Mike," Mrs. Scarlatti begged her son.

"Pa!" Spike shouted sharply, ignoring his mother.

Grabbing the wine bottle, he threw it against the wall in anger. Mrs. Scarlatti let out a shriek, as it shattered to pieces.

Spike made his way toward the door. "I'm sorry, Ma," he said quietly, before slamming the door and leaving.

* * *

Raising a shaking fist, Spike gently knocked on her apartment door five times. A moment later, the door swung open. Spike and Adele looked at each other, but neither moved. Without Spike having to say a word, Adele could see it written all over his face, that something had gone terribly wrong today.

Tears shone in Spike's eyes as he swallowed hard. Then, his voice awash with overwhelming emotion, he murmured, "I love you, Adele."

In answer, Adele silently stepped forward and met Spike's lips in a long kiss. Spike's hands pressed against her neck, deepening the kiss. Finally, when their lips parted, one hand moved to her waist, the other stroking her face. Then both his hands framed her face. He swallowed a heavy sob, before kissing her again, then he held her close, wrapping his arms around her, pressing his face into her shoulder, feeling like, if he let her go, he could lose her, too, at that very moment.

Several moments later, Adele put her arm around his shoulders and pulled him into the apartment. She led him over to her Ottoman chair and he sat down. Not knowing what to do or say, Adele went over to her tea kettle and poured him a cup of chamomile tea. She handed it to him, then sat down next to him.

Suddenly, Spike's hands shook terribly and he dropped the cup. It hit the floor and the tea splattered, staining the carpet brown. Without saying a word, Spike leaned over, against Adele's chest, and dissolved into gut-wrenching sobs.

Adele held him close, making soothing noises, stroking his face, and gently running her fingers through his hair. She said nothing, waiting for Spike to speak first. And she didn't know what to say to comfort him. She didn't even know what had happened.

After a few minutes, Adele silently, gently coaxed Spike into her bedroom and they lay down on her bed together. Spike dissolved into more heart-wrenching tears. Eventually, the officer cried himself to sleep.

Adele curled her body close to his and waited for him to wake up. He seemed to sleep for hours, but in reality, it was only about 45 minutes. When Spike finally woke up, Adele watched as he silently sat up, swung his legs off the bed, and went across the hall to the bathroom. The door closed and Adele was left wondering just what had gone wrong.

A few minutes later, Spike returned, tears afresh, a numb, disappointed, sorrowful look still prominent on his face. He sat on the bed, but did not lie back down. Adele sat up, positioned herself next to him, placing one gentle hand on his shoulder, taking his hand with her other.

"Spike, what happened?"

Spike wasn't sure he could even bear to form the words. But Adele was patient. When he finally spoke, his voice was barely a whisper.

"Adele... Lou's dead."

"What? Oh, my God... How?" Adele asked, shocked.

"He stepped on a land mine," Spike said. "Russian CR38."

Adele was stunned. "Spike, I... Babe, I'm so sorry," she said quietly. She pulled him into her arms. "How can I help?"

Spike shook his head. "I don't know..."

Adele watched him carefully, as he stood up again.

"Babe, what is it?" Adele asked him.

"He had another chance," Spike said bitterly. "I wanted to do a weight transfer. It was risky, but it was still worth a shot. No one else on the team wanted to try it, because Ed, Greg, and Sam believed it would take out Lou and me both."

Adele gently caressed his face. "They couldn't risk losing you both," she said quietly.

"Yeah, that's what Ed said," Spike said sharply, turning away from her. "But regardless of risk, our job is about saving lives. We should have tried everything we could to save Lou."

Adele nodded. "I'm sorry, Spike."

"I failed him, Adele," said Spike. "I couldn't save him. It wasn't enough. Now I've lost my best friend."

Adele held out her hand. "Spike, come here."

Spike swallowed hard, sighed deeply, then sat down next to her. She took him into her arms again and held him tightly, running her shaking hands through his spiky hair.

"You did _not_ fail him," she said firmly. "You did everything you could." Spike began to cry again. "Shhh, babe, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. It's gonna be OK."

* * *

___Anch'io ti amo" is "I love you, too."_

___Cosa è successo" is "What happened?" (Thanks, FPTO Forum! Thanks, AuntMingy, for the suggestion!)_

___"Basta" is "Stop."_

_Please review. Thanks._


	9. Moving On

_As you can see when you start reading, I gloss over most of the episodes, from my end of "One Wrong Move" (2.10) to "Behind the Blue Line" (2.18.) Issuing a spoiler warning for that block of episodes, just in case._

_I know chapter 8 was really depressing, and I'm sorry if I made you cry. Bear with me, my lovelies. Here is chapter 9. I'm dedicating it to AuntMingy, mostly because I feel bad for making her cry in chapter 8, lol. Also, thanks to my lovely beta reader, CytheraofNaxen, for her help!_

**Chapter 9**

* * *

It had been one week since Lou's tragic death. Spike was the furthest distance possible from his usual self. He hadn't cracked a joke in ages. He no longer tuned up his beloved robot, Babycakes, or used her to play pranks or entertain the team. The man who was constantly happy and optimistic, who was always willing to help others, and whom was deeply touched by his job had taken a drastic downturn. He had fallen quieter and quieter by the day. He stared numbly into space, his fingers drumming a constant meaningless beat against the briefing room table. When they got hot calls, he retreated into auto-pilot mode, if only to protect himself from an emotional breakdown, until the day was over and he could go home and be alone.

Even at home, Spike was not doing well. He barely ate, his sleep was disrupted by constant nightmares, and he was shutting everyone out, especially Adele. Spike felt like he was a bystander in his own life, seeing the world pass by from an objective point of view, rather than having to bear the painful subjective.

Spike had never been one to discriminate against team members based on gender. Jules was like his little sister, a small but no-nonsense, tough-as-nails, independent woman who had worked her ass off to get to the top within a team of all men, and continue working hard to stay there. She was very protective of her job. And Spike had, after all, taken to Donna Sabine faster than most of the team, all of whom, himself included, were convinced that Jules would not be absent long from the team, after being shot. His closest connection with Donna so far was their humorous trade-off of him "wanting to hear her undercover skank voice someday."

Spike ignored Leah Kerns as much as he could. He had acknowledged her unwelcome presence in the room with a stiff nod of his head, nothing more.

If he ignored her, it was almost like Lou wasn't dead. Spike felt like he had been robbed of his twin brother. Every time the memory crossed his mind, his heart clenched in pain and he found it hard to breathe. It was so unfair, that they had to pretend like it hadn't happened, and just go on.

And what was a former firefighter doing joining the SRU, anyway?

Leah assured them that, if they wanted to talk to her, they could.

No one missed the tears sparkling in Jules' eyes when she responded simply, poignantly, "We're good."

Later, on the hot call, when Leah called the sergeant "Greg," Spike couldn't help himself; he snapped at her that they called him "Boss." Everyone was annoyed that she tried to suggest to Ed what she could do, rather than what he had commanded; you didn't argue with the Team Leader.

Spike was further annoyed when he had no choice but to sit in the truck with a dim witness, punching buttons as she continued to fail to identify the color and make of the missing vehicle in question. Time was short and so was his temper.

He pretended it was nothing unusual when Greg patted him encouragingly on the back.

Spike's expression was unreadable, as he listened over the headset to Jules talking to disillusioned Dale Murray, trying to convince him into letting Zoe Granger go. Through her passionate, personal words, Spike could hear the tears she was fighting to hold back.

At the end of that day, in the briefing room, Leah produced a black box.

"It's not much, but it helps," said Leah, as she set it on the table. Inside it were bracelets, with "In Memory of L. Young, 1902", engraved on them.

As much as they tried to, the team couldn't hate her for this kind gesture, not even Spike. So it was a good sign when he was the first to grab a bracelet and put it on.

* * *

For four weeks running now, Spike had shut himself off from the world. While she knew he was grieving and suffering and this was his way of dealing with it, she wouldn't take his completely shutting her out lying down. She'd stopped by the Scarlatti residence, but Mrs. Scarlatti had told her every time, as kindly as she could, that he wasn't ready to see her. Outwardly, she was furious, because she knew she hadn't done anything wrong and that his current behavior wasn't her fault. But inwardly, she was at a loss as to what to do.

On Saturday, November 14, Adele called Spike and left him what was probably her fourth message that last week. As she expected, it went straight to voicemail.

"Hey, you've reached me. Leave a message."

Adele paused for a long moment. She didn't really know what more to say to him, since leaving voicemails clearly wasn't working.

"Babe, it's me... I can't help you if you won't let me in. Please don't keep shutting me out like this. Call me... I love you."

Adele hung up and proceeded to call Jules.

"Hey Jules, is there any chance you could come over for a while?" she asked. "I need some company and some advice."

A short while later, Jules arrived, with a few movies, various caffeinated drinks, and a pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream for each of them, for some girl talk.

"One chocolate chip cookie dough pint and a Mountain Dew for Miss Adele Black," said Jules, handing the ice cream and a 24-ounce bottle of Mountain to Adele, "and a strawberry cheesecake for me." She smiled.

"Thanks, Jules," Adele said, smiling halfheartedly and opening the pint.

Jules looked at her and took her first bite of ice cream. "Alright," she said, in a "go ahead" tone of voice.

"He's shut me out, Jules," Adele said, in between bites of cookie dough ice cream, as "Transporter 2" played on the TV in the background, serving mostly as white noise. "He won't talk to me. He won't see me right now. He's hurting so bad right now. He's depressed, he's angry. He just lost his best friend and who knows who he's gonna lose next. What do I do?"

"All you can do is keep trying," said Jules. "He knows it's not you he's mad at. You haven't done anything wrong. You didn't cause Lou's death. We're all taking it really hard and having to deal with it in different ways. He, in particular, is talking with our SRU psychiatrist, Dr. Luria. She came on specifically to help us, especially him, deal with this; she's not even attached to our team anymore. It will just take time. He'll come around. He knows you're here. Some things, you just have to be ready to talk about. He'll come back when he's ready."

Adele nodded, although she still felt troubled, as she took another bite of cookie dough.

* * *

The following Friday, November 20, the team found themselves at a hockey rink, negotiating with a former soldier who was trying to prevent the rink from demolition, as it held many emotional memories for him and many others. Darren Kovacs was suffering from survivors' guilt, after his three friends had been killed in Afghanistan. Sam, a former soldier himself, tried to talk Darren down when Darren took Spike hostage. But Ed had ended up taking the Sierra shot and Darren was dead. Sam had taken Darren's death hard; he felt betrayed by his team for shooting Darren, when he had been so convinced he could talk Darren down, soldier to soldier, and end the conflict peacefully, with them all going home safe.

The moment Adele had seen the report of the hostage incident on the five o'clock news, she pulled on a jacket and shoes, grabbed her car keys, and raced to SRU Headquarters.

The team was just leaving the building when she arrived. She parked her car, got out, and ran over to them.

"Spike!"

Hearing Adele's voice, Spike looked up and his eyebrows rose with surprise when he saw her running toward him. In the next few seconds, he had dropped his bag and his car keys, and she had run into his arms and crashed her lips against his.

"Are you OK?" she asked, tears running down her face as she gently framed his face with her hands. "I saw what happened on the news."

Spike nodded, his eyes weary and exhausted, his energy and adrenaline from the day's work spent.

"I'm OK," he said. "Adele, we... we need to talk."

Adele took his hand and Spike took off his earpiece, then they walked out of earshot of the team.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I need to tell you something. I don't know how to say this, but... Anyone who gets close to me... my dad, Lou... they either get hurt, physically or emotionally, or killed. I don't want that for you," he said, looking straight at her.

Adele shook her head in disbelief. "Spike..." she said. "Are you saying you don't want us to be together anymore?"

Spike looked away from her. "I don't know."

"Spike," said Adele, tears brimming in her eyes, "when lives are taken, we mourn and we miss them. But we need to remember those we love without forgetting those that are still with us." She gently took his face in her hands. "I love you, Spike, and I'll be damned if I'm gonna let you go that easily."

Spike nodded, listening.

"Do you really think I'd still be here if that's what I was afraid of?" Adele asked him seriously.

Spike shook his head and gently wiped away her tears with the pad of his thumb. Adele leaned up and kissed him again.

Their faces touching, their eyes closed, Spike said, "I love you, too, Adele. I-I'm so sorry..."

"Shh, I know," said Adele. "You were grieving. You needed space. I understand. But I need you to come back to me now."

"Promise me you won't let me be such an idiot ever again?" Spike asked her.

Adele smiled and hugged him. "Copy that," she said, holding him close, as they went back over to join the team.

* * *

Winter dawned bright, clear, crisp and cold on Toronto. It rained through November and December. On a rare day when it snowed, Spike convinced Adele and the team to go outside and have a snowball fight, including Clark, Allie, Lilly, and Claire Wordsworth in the battle.

Meanwhile, Adele had cleaned out a drawer for Spike at her apartment, so he could stay over more often. They had also decided to fly down to New York City for the weekend. Their flight left on the morning of the 23rd and returned to Toronto late in the evening on January first.

On Wednesday, December 23rd, Spike and Adele woke up early to catch their flight out of Toronto. They arrived to the airport by 7am, checked their luggage and carry-on bags, and landed at LaGuardia Airport at 8:40am. To avoid taking a taxi and racking up expensive taxi fares, they took a shuttle bus from the airport to their hotel, which was right in the center of Times Square.

"Well, babe," Spike said, flopping down onto their queen bed with Adele and kissing her, "we have the whole day to ourselves, what do you want to do?"

"Well, we're right in Times Square," Adele suggested, flopping down next to him, lying on his chest and kissing him, "so why don't we just have a little breakfast, then look around and see what we see?"

"Copy that," Spike agreed, smiling.

They walked from their hotel to Fifth Avenue. Adele shopped a little at SAKS, Macy's, and Bloomingdales. Once she was done shopping, they walked down to Saint Patrick's Cathedral.

"It's so beautiful," Adele said, looking around at the vaulting curved ceilings.

"Yeah, it is," Spike agreed, looking down at her. "Wouldn't you like to get married here?"

"Spike, I'm not Catholic," Adele told him, confused.

"So?"

"Even if I was Catholic, it'd be so— wait a minute, what?" Adele asked, turning sharply to face him. "What are you talking about?"

"Hypothetically," Spike added, a little too quickly.

"Oh," Adele said, sounding unconvinced, "uh huh... _Hypothetically_, I'd _love_ to, if I was Catholic."

Spike nodded and they didn't pursue the matter any further.

That night, as they walked back to their hotel, Adele said, "Hey, tomorrow's Christmas... our first Christmas together."

Spike smiled and leaned down and kissed her.

"It will be a Christmas you will never forget," he assured her.

Adele smiled as she kissed him again. "I can't wait."

* * *

The following afternoon, Christmas Eve, as it was starting to get dark, Spike and Adele took a long horse-drawn carriage tour around Central Park. The ride lasted about an hour and Adele was pleased when the driver allowed her to pet the draft horse afterward.

He wrapped his arms around her, looked into her eyes, and asked, "Well, babe, are you ready?"

"Ready for what?" Adele asked.

"You'll see. Come on."

Spike took Adele's hand and led her over to underneath a cherry blossom tree. Adele narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him.

"Spike, what—" she began, but she didn't get a chance to finish her sentence.

Spike had produced a small box from his pocket and gotten down on one knee, on the snowy ground.

Adele's hands flew to her mouth in shock. Then he said the four magic words.

"Adele Karis Black, I want to tell you how much I love you. And I want to make it permanent. Will you marry me?"

Adele was floored. "Are you sure? Are—are you really sure? I mean, it's only been six months and we don't have a house yet and..." she stammered, rambling.

"Well, you know I don't ask a question I don't already know the answer to," Spike said, looking up at her. "So... at the risk of being rejected twice, I'm going to ask again. Adele Karis Black, will you marry me?"

"Um, OK," Adele said nervously.

"Yeah?" Spike asked, grinning.

Adele grinned. "Yes," she said, laughing happily, "yes!"

Spike was beaming as he stood up, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her tenderly.

Their faces touching, eyes closed, Spike murmured, "I'm sorry to be a killjoy, but I don't have a ring right now. I was hoping, you know, to go ring shopping with the guys. And I didn't want them to know about the engagement before you did. I hope that's acceptable."

"Of course it is," Adele said quietly, kissing him gently.

"I promise, with their help, you will have the best ring ever," Spike said.

Adele smiled. "I don't doubt that, Spike," she said, tears of happiness streaming down her pretty face.

Spike gently wiped away her tears with the pad of his thumb, then traced his thumb down to her chin, before tilting her face up and meeting her lips in another kiss and wrapping his arms around her in a loving hug.

* * *

On Christmas Morning, Spike and Adele woke up in each other's arms. This morning felt extra-special. Not only was it their first Christmas together, but they were preparing to spend the rest of their lives together.

"Spike, I want to ask you something," said Adele, as they lay in bed together.

"What, babe?" Spike asked.

"Our first day here," Adele said, looking at him curiously, "when you made that remark about 'hypothetically' getting married at Saint Patrick's Cathedral... You've had last night planned out this whole time, haven't you?"

Spike grinned. "Sort of," he said. "I hadn't planned on it going so perfectly, but it did."

"Yes, it did," Adele agreed. "We really should call our folks, but I do not want to move."

"Mm, copy that," Spike murmured, kissing her neck. "I could stay here forever."

"Me too, Spike," Adele said, snuggling closer to his warm frame. "Adele Karis Scarlatti. It has a really nice ring to it."

"That is does, babe."

Eventually, they called their families to wish them Merry Christmas and tell them the exciting news. Michelina and Stella, of course, were thrilled beyond words. Everyone else was happy for the new couple, too. Adele particularly enjoyed Kate's thrilled reaction to hearing her sister was getting married and going to have a wedding.

Once the calling around was finished and they had had a good breakfast, Spike and Adele spent the special day playing in the city, doing various Christmas things, particularly ice-skating and gazing at the enormous Christmas tree at the Rockfeller Center. They ended the beautiful day by seeing the laser light show production in Central Park, right under the cherry blossom tree where they had got engaged.

* * *

December 30 was personally Spike's favorite day, as in addition to seeing the Statue of Liberty via the Circle Line Harbour Cruise and watching a documentary narrated by Robert Redford at the Hayden Planetarium, they also looked around the New York City Police Museum.

Adele fully enjoyed this as well, because in addition to teaching them about history, they got to try a simulation of a firefight. Adele also got to look at a gun used by Al Capone's gang in 1928 and the first machine gun used in a gangland killing in New York.

* * *

New Year's Eve Day was spent shopping for an evening gown for Adele and a tuxedo for Spike, because they purchased tickets to attend the New Year's Eve Gala with the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center. The gala went from 8pm to 10pm. Adele wore a beautiful dark grey Taffeta evening gown with soft lace cap sleeves. Fireworks at Central Park followed, from 10pm until 11pm.

Then it was time to head back to Times Square, to await the infamous ball drop.

Spike felt a surge of excitement run through him, as the clock ticked down to thirty minutes left until 2010 arrived. The energy in Times Square was contagious. The noise of the chattering crowd, combined with the amazing acts, was enough to make anyone jittery.

At the same time, however, Spike was perfectly content to be where he was. His eyes closed and he let out a happy sigh, as he rested his chin gently on the top of Adele's head, holding her close in front of him.

Spike was brought out of his reverie as a sudden commotion flared up in the huge gathering of people, as the final minute closed in on them. Adele turned around and looked up at Spike, then laid her head on his chest as they watched the clock on the LED screen tick down.

The crowd counted down. _10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1..._

Spike pulled Adele close to him and kissed her, as the screen shone _2010! _ All around them, oblivious to them, the crowd cheered and clapped, happily ringing in the New Year. As they looked into each other's eyes, they were the only two people on Earth.

* * *

On New Year's Day, Spike and Adele slept in late, until about 11am. Their flight was not due to leave until 4:30pm and they didn't have to check out of the hotel until 3pm. They had had a great time and were anxious to get home and start planning their new life together, as soon-to-be husband and wife.

* * *

_You might find this amusing: chapter 10 is only outlined, but chapter 11, for the most part, is finished, haha. I do, anyway..._

_Please review! Thanks. Goodnight, all!_


	10. Let's Start with Forever

_Wow, two chapters in three days! My muse has been on a Flashpoint craze, I guess. AuntMingy, what a surprise to return to from a Toronto trip, eh? Haha._

_I don't have much to say, except Happy Reading! =)_

**Chapter 10**

* * *

"Jules, I am not wearing that frilly puffy thing my stepmom calls a dress!" Adele hollered, as she came out of her bedroom, two weeks later. Adele, Spike, a few of Adele's girlfriends, and the rest of the team, including Winnie, Sophie, and Shelley, had gotten together after work one night, to start working on wedding arrangements. The chosen date was June 19, 2010.

"Why not, babe?" Spike asked her.

"Because I have a strict no-ruffles policy," Adele replied stubbornly.

"Adele, for once in your life, it would not kill you to really be a girl and really look glamorous," Adele's girlfriend, Leah, teased her, from across the living room.

"Spike, we don't even have a date set," Adele whined.

"Babe, will you please relax? You already said you don't want an engagement party; OK, fine," said Spike. "If you want a small wedding, that's fine, too, OK? How about we have Jules and Sam hang onto the rings until our wedding and hand them to the bride and groom when the time comes? No big deal."

Adele paused for a moment, considering this. "That's a really good idea, actually," she said.

"I have my moments," Spike said, smiling.

"And we'll have to have fake flowers, because people might be allergic to real flowers, and—"

"Are you done?" Spike asked calmly, looking down at her.

Adele exhaled heavily. "Yes, I'm done." She put a hand to her forehead. "This is giving me a headache."

"Do you want to go lie down for a while?" Spike asked her.

"Sure," said Adele. She looked at the others. "Sorry, guys. We'll be back in a bit."

"Take your time," Jules said, smiling. "We'll hang out."

"Thanks, Jules," Adele said, smiling, before she and Spike went into her bedroom to lie down.

About fifteen minutes later, Spike and Adele reappeared in the living room area.

"That was fast," said Charlotte.

Adele nodded. "Well, we've got a lot to do."

"What color scheme do you want, Adele?" Jules asked.

"I'd really like my dress to be cherry blossom pink," said Adele, "since we got engaged under a cherry blossom tree." She and Spike exchanged a smile, as she flipped through bridal magazines with the girls. "And some shade of blue for the bridesmaids' dresses. I really like this maya blue... or this cerulean blue... oh, and this periwinkle blue, too." She handed the magazine over to Charlotte, Leah, and the other women. "What do you girls think?"

"We like the maya blue," Sophie said, looking at Shelley and Winnie.

"We vote for periwinkle," Leah said, looking at Charlotte.

"But it's up to you, in the end," Charlotte said sweetly, smiling.

Adele smiled. "If it's OK with you girls," she said, "I really like the periwinkle best."

"Sure," Jules, Charlotte, and Leah said in unison. Adele marked the order, tore it out and stuck it in an envelope to mail, then they moved on to other things.

Instead of hiring a makeup artist or going to a salon, Jules, Charlotte, and Leah volunteered to do Adele's hair on the big day. They also hired a caterer, to save their families a lot of cooking.

Adele's paternal grandmother and Spike's mother, however, would not take "no" for an answer. Eventually, they persuaded Adele to allow them to make desserts for the wedding.

Once the tuxedos had been chosen, Spike and the men stood up.

"Wait, where are you going?" Adele asked, confused.

"Ring shopping," Ed said matter-of-factly, grinning at her.

"Oh," Adele said, nodding.

"Can't meet you at the altar without it," Spike said, smiling and leaning down and kissing the top of her head, before the men started to drag him away.

"Copy that!" Adele agreed, smiling.

"Have fun, boys!" Jules called after them, as the men left the room, whooping and hollering with excitement.

"You're gonna have the best ring ever," Charlotte gushed to Adele, giggling. Adele grinned and giggled, too.

"I have a fun idea for 'something blue,'" said Adele. Everyone looked at her. "I say we sew the wedding date into my underside of my dress."

"That's really cool, Adele," Jules said, as everyone nodded in agreement.

"I hope Spike likes it," said Adele. "I feel weird, making all these decisions without him."

"He'll be fine with it. Spike won't disappoint you, Adele," Jules assured her.

"I know he won't, Jules," Adele said, smiling. "So how about we look for a house while they're gone? He'll faint if he comes home with a ring and that's already accomplished."

The women laughed, especially Sophie and Shelley.

"Alright," everyone agreed, opening up the real estate magazines and starting to search.

* * *

"So how come you didn't tell us about this sooner?" Sam asked, as the four men walked into the jewelry store.

"Simple, Sam," Spike said. "I didn't want you guys to know about the proposal and engagement before she did."

"What are we doing here, exactly?" Wordy asked, looking around, confused.

"Well... I need to officially give her a ring," Spike said, blushing.

"Wait, what?" Ed asked, confused. "You proposed to her without a ring? Why?"

"Because I've never done this before and I have no idea what I'm doing," Spike said, "and because I wanted your guys' help picking. So get crackin', will you?"

The guys smiled and began to start looking.

After some searching, Spike found one that caught his eye.

"Guys, what do you think of this one?" Spike asked him, holding up a ring with a sapphire, not a diamond, in it. "I mean, a sapphire is her birth stone."

"Nah, go for the diamond, man," Sam said. "Diamonds are a girl's best friend. Diamond or bust."

"Not that getting Adele her birthstone isn't a great idea," said Wordy, "because it is."

"But nothing beats a diamond," Sam said.

"Hey, why not get her a sapphire, since it's her birth stone, and inset diamonds around it?" Ed suggested. "Then you'll have both of them covered. Or inset sapphires around a diamond."

"Ed, man, that is brilliant!" Spike said, clapping his hands together.

"No problem, man," Ed said, smiling as Spike went and picked out a diamond ring. "You gonna go pay for that or are we gonna get arrested for shoplifting and you have to present it to her behind bars?"

Spike grinned, then went to go set up the customization plan and pay for the ring.

* * *

Later that week, as Spike and Adele got ready for bed, Spike said softly to Adele, "I have something for you, babe."

"What?" Adele asked, looking at him.

Spike got the ring box from his nightstand and opened it and revealed the diamond ring, which had sapphires inset around it, to her. Adele's mouth fell open.

"The guys helped me pick it out," Spike said.

"Oh, Spike... it... it's beautiful," Adele said breathlessly.

Spike smiled and slid it on her finger. He leaned down and kissed her.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you, too," Adele whispered back, kissing him again before they wrapped their arms around each other and fell asleep.

* * *

In March, Spike, Adele, and the team could be found choosing music for the wedding ceremony and the reception. In the end, they had decided upon a great variety, from Bach and Chopin to the Chicken Dance.

They had also found the perfect place to live.

It was a cute medium-sized yellow house, with four bedrooms and two bathrooms, in central Toronto, nearby to the SRU Headquarters. It had a nice-sized kitchen and living room, with two bedrooms upstairs and two bedrooms on the main floor, as well as one bathroom on each floor and a sun room on the main floor. While the front yard was small, the large fenced-in backyard made up for its lack of size and privacy. The property also had a two-stall garage and front and back patios.

"Spike, I think it's wonderful," Adele said, looking at him. "I think we should take it."

"Are you sure you don't want to think about it?" Spike asked her.

"Spike, we've been searching for almost three months," Adele said. "I feel like if we pass on this one, then it goes off the market and nothing else comes up, we'll have missed our chance and we'll regret it. We can totally afford it."

"Alright," Spike said, after thinking for a minute, "it's ours."

Two days later, they had signed the deal.

* * *

Due to their change in location, Adele had also changed jobs. She had quit her cashiering job at Safeway, in favor of starting working at a law firm, where she worked as a legal secretary. It was certainly a more glamorous job than working retail and it even improved Adele's depression.

They engraved their rings on different days, wanting to keep the inscriptions a secret from each other until the special day.

Jules, meanwhile, had come up with a clever way for Spike and Adele to write their vows— which would also be kept under wraps until the big day.

She had them sit in the break room at SRU, their backs to each other, and write out their vows. She and Ed then took the pieces of paper and, without looking at them, placed them in envelopes and sealed them, not to be opened until June 19.

* * *

Two weeks before the wedding, Adele and Spike went to the local walk-in clinic to get the vaccinations they needed, before going to Mexico for ten days on their honeymoon.

Spike pulled a grimacing face as the nurse swabbed his arm and prepared the syringe. Adele sat in a chair next to him, waiting her turn.

As the needle neared his arm, Spike looked away and yelled, "Ow!"

"I haven't done anything yet," the nurse, whose name was Jess, said in surprise.

"I was practicing," Spike said sarcastically.

Adele chuckled. "You work for the SRU and you're afraid of a little needle?" she asked him.

"I am not _afraid _of it," Spike said. "I'm just not a fan."

"Well, that's pretty common," said Jess, as she moved toward his arm with the needle again.

"Ow," Spike whined. But it was over a second later, and the nurse put a Band-Aid on his arm. He and Adele traded places, and although it took the nurse longer to find veins in Adele's arms, she received her vaccination quietly.

Things were falling into place. June 19 quickly approached.

* * *

The week of the wedding was equally as busy as previous weeks. Adele and the girls picked up their dresses, following the final fitting. Spike and Adele began to pack for their honeymoon. They gave Jules, Adele's parents, and Spike's parents honeymoon information, in case of an emergency on either side of the continent.

The rehearsal ceremony went off without a hitch. Adele and Spike made sure Jules and Sam still had the rings in their possession afterward, tucked away safe and sound for the upcoming day. They also thanked their parents for helping out and supporting them through the whole thing.

* * *

On the morning of June 19, Adele woke up around 10. The morning had dawned cool and clear. But the weather was due to warm up before the 2pm wedding. Adele knew it was going to be a perfect day for the wedding.

She filled a glass of water and sat down at the kitchen table and let her thoughts mesh together and her mind wander.

Adele didn't notice Spike enter the kitchen until he placed his hand on her shoulder. She jumped, startled.

"Whoa, hey, good morning," Spike said, smiling at her. "Someone's excited."

"Good morning, babe," Adele replied brightly, hopping down from the chair to hug him. "I am a bit wired. Want some tea?"

"Sure," Spike said. "I am not yawning through my 'I do.'"

Adele giggled. "Good, because I wouldn't want you to, either," she said. "You go get ready. I'll make tea and breakfast."

"Copy that," Spike said, before heading upstairs to their master bathroom.

* * *

"Jules, how's Spike?" Adele asked, as Jules came in to line up in front of her and her father, behind the rest of the wedding party in the line-up. The wedding was just minutes away from starting.

Sam, Spike's Best Man, was waiting at the altar, already having entered through a side entrance. Adele and Spike's parents, grandparents, and siblings were entering during the processional, in front of the bridal party. Then the groomsmen, Ed, Wordy, Greg, and Rolie were escorting Winnie, Jules, and Adele's best friends, Charlotte and Jess, down the aisle. Leah's fiance, Jason, was escorting her, but was not part of the official wedding party. He would escort Leah down the aisle, then would sit with her parents (with whom Adele was very close) until it came time to escort her to the back of the church.

"He's nervous, sweetie, but don't worry," Jules said. "The boys are deescalating him. The only one they will let him take hostage is you."

Adele laughed. Jules smiled. She squeezed Adele's hand fondly, then the bridal party's song began and Jules got back in line, standing on Wordy's left side.

Adele closed her eyes and let the gentle melodic piano notes of Yurima's "River Flows In You" take her away for a minute. Listening to the peaceful melody made it feel real to her. This was really happening. She was really about to marry the man of her dreams, the man who had literally saved her life.

A few minutes later, the bride's entrance song began— "Only Hope" by Mandy Moore.

"You ready?" Matthew asked, looking down at her.

"Yeah," Adele replied. Her voice betrayed her with an ever-so-slight shake. "Don't let me fall, Dad."

"Never," Matthew promised her.

As the first verse finished and the chorus of the song began, Adele sighed heavily, then took her first step forward.

For a moment, Adele looked at her feet, fearing she would trip and fall in her dress. Flowers were strewn all over the floor of the sanctuary. She caught herself tapping her flowers against her dress with her left hand and stopped.

Then she looked up and saw Spike smiling at her, waiting patiently for her to walk up to him. Lou's memorial candle flickered gently beside him, casting him in glinting golden light.

All her worries, regrets, and insecurities vanished. She saw only him. She couldn't take her eyes off him as she walked up to him.

His gentle voice made her come back to earth.

"Are you ready?" he asked her softly.

"More than you know," she replied softly.

It was a beautiful ceremony. The vows that had been kept under wraps for many weeks were finally revealed.

"Adele," Spike said, "the greatest of friends is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow. You bring out the best in me. To quote from _Lord of the Rings_, 'I would rather spend one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone.' On this day, the day of our wedding, I love you and I promise you this." He smiled. "From now into eternity, I promise you me."

Adele smiled, taking a moment to revel in the special words. Then her turn came.

"Spike," Adele said, "we first met at the pinnacle of the hardest personal time in my life. I was afraid of falling in love, afraid of letting people see who I really was, afraid of tomorrow, afraid of moving forward in life. You brought me out of the darkness and showed me the light. You came to me with warmth and compassion. I was lost, but you made me feel found again. You invited me into your world, asking nothing in return. Whatever may lay ahead, good or bad, we will face together. The best is yet to come. I will go wherever you go— as if you really could leave me behind!"

Spike grinned, as a chuckle went around the sanctuary.

Jules and Sam stepped forward and gave the rings to Adele and Spike, who then exchanged them. For a moment, they turned to face the guests.

Adele looked up, smiling, at Spike. He nodded, smiling back.

"We would like to share the inscriptions," said Adele. "They've been kept a secret, even from us, until now." She nudged Spike with her shoulder. "You go."

The guests chuckled, and Spike said, "Ladies first."

Adele grinned and nodded. She turned the wedding band so she could see the inside.

"'I got one!'" she announced, laughing, as she held the ring up in the air, before Spike slipped it on her ring finger.

Laughter went around the room, followed by a moment of applause. Then it was Spike's turn. A smile crept over his face as he read it.

"'I found the solution!'" he announced, grinning as he held the ring up high, then Adele slipped it on his ring finger.

The guests applauded, as Spike and Adele took hands, then turned back to the pastor. Only the bride, groom, and the team truly knew that they had made the choice to use such a chilling phrase and turn it into something so beautiful and meaningful.

"Do you, Adele Karis Black, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?" the pastor asked.

"I do," said Adele.

"And do you, Michelangelo 'Spike' Scarlatti, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"He does," Adele said, before Spike could answer.

The audience laughed behind them.

"I do," Spike said, after he stopped laughing.

"Then, by the power vested in me, I pronounced you husband and wife," the pastor said. He smiled at Spike. "You may kiss your bride."

Spike beamed as he swung Adele around, leaned her down, and kissed her tenderly, as his wife.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Scarlatti!" the pastor announced.

Beaming, Spike and Adele held each other close, as the guests applauded around them.

* * *

_I keep forgetting to clarify, Karis rhymes with 'Paris,' just so you know. I haven't found evidence that Spike has a middle name, so I couldn't use it._

_The wedding vows are courtesy of both myself and lots of Googling, lol._

_I won't be writing any of the honeymoon. While I had a lot of fun writing this wedding and its preparations, I've written honeymoons before and find them either laborious or boring, so none of that will appear._

_It's almost 2am here, so if I have any hope of getting up before Noon tomorrow to continue my job hunt, I must head to bed. Goodnight, all!_

_Coming up: Spike and Adele get the surprise of their lives! Stay tuned!_

_If you read it, review!_


	11. A Twice Blessed Day

_Are we really already at chapter 11? Wow! It's weird to think the story has progressed this far already._

_Where do you readers want to see this story end? I have a general idea, but I'm still curious what you all think. Leave suggestions in your reviews, OK?_

_Happy Reading!_

**Chapter 11**

* * *

About a month after the honeymoon, while at work, Adele noticed she wasn't feeling well. However, she encountered many disadvantaged people every day with her job, so she tacked it up to a simple minor virus. Not wanting to slack on her work, she continued with her duties like nothing was wrong.

Adele bent down to put away a heavy box, when her head spun slightly. She paused for a moment to get her bearings, tacking it up to the virus. She put away the box without much difficulty.

When she went to stand, her world swam dangerously, then the floor rushed up to meet her.

* * *

Spike rushed through the front doors to the admitting desk.

"Adele Scarlatti," he said breathlessly to the secretary.

"Room 2320," she replied. "Take the elevator up to second floor, take a right, it's on your right."

"Thank you," Spike said, rushing down the hallway. He quickly found the elevator and pummeled the Up button, as if doing so would make the elevator operate faster. When it finally arrived, he drummed his fingers impatiently against the elevator wall, as it slowly rose to the second floor. The second the doors opened to the second floor, Spike stumbled out of the elevator and turned right down the hallway.

A nurse came walking out of room 2320, just as Spike skidded to a stop in front of the door, barely avoiding colliding with her.

"May I help you?" she asked.

"My wife's in there," Spike said. "Is she OK?"

"Go on in," said the nurse, whose name was Nicole. "A doctor will be in shortly."

"Thank you," said Spike, before knocking and going in. Adele's eyes were closed when he entered the room. He sat down in a chair next to her bed and took her hand. "Adele, sweetie, it's me."

Adele opened her eyes. "Hi," she said softly.

Spike closed his eyes and sighed heavily with relief. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Exhausted," said Adele. "How did you find out what happened?"

"We were patrolling and the hospital called me," Spike said. He pushed her damp bangs out of her eyes. "I'm so glad you're OK."

"Me too," Adele said. "I don't know why it happened. One second, I was scanning a TV at work, the next I'm in the ambulance coming here."

Spike nodded, stroking her hair. "The doctor will know," he said, more to assure himself than her.

Adele nodded, then winced.

"Did you hit your head when you fell?" Spike asked her.

"No, I'm just still not feeling great."

Spike nodded. "You just rest." Adele closed her eyes.

* * *

Ten minutes later, a doctor entered the room.

"I'm Doctor Gerard," he said, shaking Spike's hand. "So I hear you had quite an eventful morning at work, Adele. It appears you're hypoglycemic, so we're going to have you eat something, then keep you overnight for observation."

"What?" Adele asked. "Why?"

"Well, for one, because you lost consciousness," said Doctor Gerard, "and two, because we want to make sure your babies are alright." He smiled. "Congratulations, you're pregnant."

"My— my..." Adele's mouth fell open. "Oh, my God," she said, falling back against her pillows in shock. "I— I had a feeling, but... wow."

"And we did a precautionary ultrasound when you were admitted, since you were unconscious and you couldn't confirm whether or not you might be pregnant," said Doctor Gerard. "There are two sacs— it's twins."

Spike and Adele looked at each other in shock and amazement. Adele shook her head back and forth slowly in disbelief.

"I can't believe this," she said. "How far along am I?"

"Almost two months," said Doctor Gerard. "Can you tell me of any other symptoms you've had?"

"I've been really tired for a few weeks," said Adele. "And I've been having headaches, but I didn't think anything of it."

"Mhm," Doctor Gerard said, noting that. "Well, I'm going to prescribe you prenatal vitamins. I encourage you to keep eating well and keep walking and staying active, like you do," said Doctor Gerard. "However, now that we know you're pregnant, I cannot advise horseback riding, as it is dangerous for the developing babies."

"Oh no," Adele groaned, bringing her hands up to her face. Horseback riding was Adele's favorite form of physical activity. "It's my favorite exercise."

"I'm sorry to cause you inconvenience," Doctor Gerard said, "but it's simply not recommended. Think of the riding motions as equal to, say, a low-speed car collision. Even experienced riders get thrown or kicked or otherwise injured. Especially since you're still a little new at your job, I can't advise it. Of course, in the end, the call is yours, but not riding is best."

Adele nodded, looking crestfallen.

"Adele, you can still be out there," Spike said to her. "Doctor Gerard is saying no riding. That doesn't mean you can't groom or just be with them."

"Spike is right," said Doctor Gerard. "Those are still open options. Especially since it's twins, they will grow faster than a single baby, in terms of how much room your body can give them, so you will probably become uncomfortable with riding sooner than you think, even if you were to continue it."

Adele nodded. "Alright, alright," she conceded, still looking upset, "I'll stop riding."

"You mean you're not going to argue with me, Adele?" Doctor Gerard asked, surprised.

"No," Adele said. "I mean, not being able to ride is only a temporary thing. I can get back to it as soon as they are born. That's my goal."

"That sounds like a good goal," said Doctor Gerard. "Otherwise, since you seem to be doing fine, you'll be released tomorrow. And no more fainting at work." He smiled.

Adele smiled and nodded. "Copy that," she said.

Then, after shaking Spike's hand, the doctor left.

* * *

Following her fainting incident, as pregnancies went, Adele's was uneventful.

At 12 weeks along, Spike and Adele were overjoyed when they heard their babies' heartbeats for the first time.

But it got even better when, at 20 weeks along, they finally got to find out the babies' genders.

"Now don't count your chickens before they hatch," said Doctor Young, their chosen clinic obstetrician, "but it looks like you're having one of each, a boy and a girl."

Spike grinned. "A princess and a terror," he said. Adele aimed a swipe at his head, but missed.

"Here's baby A, the boy, front and center, and baby B, the girl, tucked up behind him," said Doctor Young.

"But you can still see it's a girl?" Adele asked.

"She can run, but she can't hide," Doctor Young joked.

Adele and Spike laughed.

* * *

At 28 weeks, or seven months, along in Adele's pregnancy, she and Spike chose three highly-trained midwives and started talking to them about delivering the babies at home, via a water birth. They decided at home was where they were both most comfortable and where was the best, easiest transition for the babies from the womb to the real world.

When Adele was 32 weeks along, she and Spike got to experience something extra-special with Mary, Cythera, and Summer: a special, individual water birth pre-natal class session.

Adele floated on her back against Spike's chest, relaxed with her eyes closed and her legs straight out, as Spike gently pulled her back and forth through the water. It was very relaxing and harmonizing for them both.

They also learned special breathing techniques, utilizing the exhalation half of the exercises underwater. This provided them with the maximum physical and psychological understanding of the breathing exercises and the relaxation. She was seeing her chiropractor/masseuse, Judy, weekly now, to help reduce her stress as well.

* * *

As hard as she was trying to remain stress-free, however, being married to a member of the SRU, stress was unavoidable.

Spike had come under a lot of pressure lately, from his father, who wanted him to quit his job, in favor of a safer lifestyle. While Mrs. Scarlatti begged him to quit only for a while, until Mr. Scarlatti died and couldn't feel the burden of his son being on the SRU any longer, Spike refused to quit, stating that it was not something he could just quit and come back to when he wanted, and that the job was his life, whether they liked it or not.

Then Adele was forced to the sidelines and could only wait and hope for good news, as Sophie Lane went into labor, while the team was being evaluated under lock down by Dr. Toth.

That wasn't all. Once Ed had completed his re-qualifying exam and his questioning from Toth, he had left immediately with every intent of going to the hospital to help out Sophie and meet his new baby girl. On his way, however, he had been shot more than half a dozen times by a man under duress.

Fortunately, in the end, things had worked out for the best. Team One had found Ed's shooter and had been cleared for duty, but the team would still remain under temporary probation. Ed had been able to witness the birth of his daughter, Isabel, before being rushed off to surgery to remove the bullets from his arm.

At the end of that long day, Spike had been happy to come home to his expectant wife and peace and quiet at home. In approximately two months, he and Adele would have little ones of their own.

* * *

On Friday, March 11, 2011, Adele was 38 weeks along in her pregnancy. At 7:22am the next morning, she awoke to two strong contractions over the course of an hour, but relaxed well through them. Spike snored softly as he slept peacefully beside her.

When she noticed other signs and had another strong contraction, she reached for the phone beside the bed and called her birth team. At 8:40am, she awoke Spike.

"Is it time?" Spike asked.

"I think so," Adele responded. "While we're waiting for the birth team to get here, will you please fill the birth pool? I'll call your mom and Jules."

"Sure," said Spike.

Adele called Jules, as Spike left the bedroom.

At 9:15, Michelina and Jules arrived, with a camera to photograph everything.

"How are you doing, sweetie?" Jules asked Adele, as she entered the bedroom.

"I'm alright," Adele responded. "The surges are pretty strong, though."

Adele was substituting the spoken word "surge" for "contraction," because it tricked her brain into thinking things weren't as painful and she was able to relax more fully.

"What do we need to do, Spike?" Jules asked him, taking control of the situation.

"We need to make sure there are warm, dry blankets and caps ready," said Spike.

"I'll get them," said Jules. She went across the hall to the linen closet and got the special blue and pink baby caps and blankets and brought them back in the bedroom and laid them out, readying them for the babies' arrivals.

"Are you comfortable?" Jules asked Adele.

"Um, could be better," said Adele. "Can you sit behind me?"

"Of course," said Jules. "Mrs. Scarlatti, can you help Adele stand so I can get behind her?"

"_Si_, of course," said Michelina.

Michelina set down the camera, then helped Adele stand up. Adele leaned heavily against her mother-in-law, who murmured soft reassurances in Italian, as another contraction came on. As Adele breathed through it, listening to Michelina's soft voice, Jules quickly positioned herself behind Adele, with a pillow in front of her, then the contraction had ended.

"Lay back, sweetie," Jules said calmly.

Adele lay back, then Michelina went back to taking photographs. The contractions quickly intensified in strength and quickened in frequency. Jules gently played with her hair to relax her. No midwives had arrived yet.

After several minutes, Adele rolled over onto her side, to give her back some relief. Jules propped an additional pillow between herself and Adele's arm and shoulder, to give Adele more support.

Before Adele knew it, she couldn't wait any longer. The urge to push was too strong.

"Oh, God," she moaned, "I have to push!"

As Michelina held her upper leg, Adele pushed on her side, holding tightly to Jules' hand, and clenching the end of the bed with her other hand.

"I'm right here, babe," Spike said, from where he stood at her feet, across from his mother.

About a minute later, as another contraction came, Adele said, "Spike, I don't think they're gonna make it— the midwives. You'll have to do it."

Spike looked up. "What?" he asked, certain he had misheard her. "Do what?"

"You'll have to catch the baby."

Spike looked at his mother and Jules in shock. Then he looked back at Adele.

"Are you sure you want me?" he asked.

Adele shook her head. "It's alright," Adele assured him breathlessly, as she relaxed as best she could through another strong contraction. "You can do it. I trust you."

Spike swallowed hard, then nodded. "Alright," he said, "I'll try."

Adele nodded. Soon, another contraction came over her and she pushed again.

Spike looked up at Adele, a smile of disbelief and amazement on his face, as he watched his first child begin to enter the world.

"I see a head of dark hair."

"You do?" Adele asked, starting to cry with happiness.

"What'd you expect," Jules asked, chuckling, "a blonde?"

Three pushes and ten minutes later, the Scarlatti baby boy slipped peacefully into the world, born into his daddy's hands, crying heartily.

"10:27," said Mrs. Scarlatti, checking the clock and making a quick note on a nearby notepad.

"He's here, Adele," Spike said, overjoyed as he held the baby carefully. "He's here."

The cord was too short for Adele to hold the newborn, and she was too exhausted and overwhelmed from the fast delivery to maneuver into a better position to hold him. Fortunately, a few minutes later, their first midwife, Mary, arrived. Spike slowly handed the newborn boy off to her, then he got off the bed and stood out of Mary's way.

"Looks like I just missed some action," she said casually, smiling as she took over things. "How are you doing, Adele?" she added to her.

"Exhausted," Adele replied, lying against Jules wearily.

"Come here and cut the cord, Dad," Mary said to Spike.

Adele looked over just in time to see Spike pale considerably at this instruction. She couldn't help but laugh, despite her exhaustion; Spike, a member of the SRU, was made nervous by something like this?

"It's OK," Mary reassured him. "It won't hurt him." Spike came over and took the scissors from her. "Now cut between the clamps. Don't be afraid to cut hard, it's kind of rubbery."

Spike nodded, then cut the cord. Then, as Mary lay the baby boy down and wrapped him in a warm, dry blue blanket, Spike went over to Adele.

"How are you doing, babe?" Spike asked her, wiping her sweaty face with a damp washcloth and pushing her hair out of her face.

"I'm OK," Adele said. "My surges have stopped."

Spike looked at Mary. "But that's good, isn't it?" he asked the midwife.

"It's good that Adele is getting a break before the second baby arrives," Mary confirmed.

Adele moved her hands around on her stomach, trying to feel for the baby girl's position, but her stomach was too hard to feel anything. Adele laid back against Jules and waited.

* * *

At 11, Stella and Kate arrived.

"Hi, honey," Stella said lovingly to Adele, pressing a kiss to the top of her daughter's head. "How are you doing?"

"Drained," said Adele, "but I'm OK. Have Kate hold him— she'll be thrilled."

"Sure," said Stella, taking Louis from Spike. Stella took the newborn boy over to Kate. "Hey, Kate, meet your new nephew. His name is..." She looked back over at her daughter. "Uh, Adele, Spike, what is his name?"

"Lewis Enrico Scarlatti," Adele and Spike answered in unison.

At the sound of a sob behind her, Adele looked up behind her as far as she could without moving, trying to see Jules.

"What's up, sweetie?" she asked, knowing perfectly well why Jules was reacting like this.

"Nothing," Jules said, quickly wiping her tears away. "I'm sorry..."

"Don't be, it's OK," Adele said, reaching her arm up over her head, finding Jules' face, and gently patting her cheek. Jules took Adele's hand in both of hers and held it to her face, then let go.

"Kate, this is Lewis, your nephew," Stella said to Kate. "He's a twin, just like you and Adele."

"Oh... really?" Kate asked excitedly, a huge grin appearing on her face. Lewis was carefully placed in Kate's awaiting arms. "Hi, Lewis," she said to him, holding him gently. Adele looked over at her thrilled sister and smiled.

* * *

Their other midwives, Cythera and Summer, arrived and set up their medical bags. They also produced things like the cloth hanging scale, the cloth tape measure, and other things to examine the babies with. The second baby's progress had slowed, so Adele and the midwives took the time to relax and do Lewis' exam. In addition to doing measurements and monitoring vital stats, they also took his foot and hand prints and made clay molds of his tiny hands and feet.

Lewis Enrico Scarlatti was a perfectly healthy 7 pounds, 4 ounces, and measured at 19 ½ inches long.

At about 3:15, Mary suggested Adele try using the knee/chest position, to encourage the baby to descend into the head-down position. Adele lay on the bed, her hips and legs elevated by a stack of pillows. She felt very relaxed and fell asleep.

* * *

When she awoke a couple hours later, she ate to regain her lost energy and she walked around a little. To Adele, it felt very strange trying to stay connected to everything; the labor, her little girl still inside her _and _her little boy who was already here.

She held Lewis off and on, but didn't feel a sense of sadness or concern for his well-being when she wasn't holding him. She was not in a hospital, being hurried to have her and Spike's babies and get out; she was at home, where she felt most comfortable, surrounded by friends and family and her birth team. There was peace among the chaos, as Lewis contently napped in everyone's arms, even while he was being passed around to Stella, Kate, Spike, and Michelina in turn.

Attempts to manually turn the baby into the head-down position failed. Adele and Spike walked up and down the steps together, allowing for some relaxing alone time.

"Are you nervous?" Spike asked her, as they walked down the stairs to the main floor again.

"Not for delivery, no," Adele responded quietly. "I just want her to be here safe and sound."

Spike squeezed her hand encouragingly. "Me too," he agreed. "She'll be here."

Adele smiled at him and squeezed his hand back. "I know," she said. "I'm speaking from experience here."

"What do you mean?" Spike asked curiously.

"Well, when my mom had me and Kate, it was Kate's water that broke," Adele said. "I was in no hurry to come, but she had other plans. The doctors decided to take us both out at once, since my mom had developed an infection and fever, but if they hadn't, I was having none of it!"

Spike grinned, then they laughed together.

"That's funny."

"I know," Adele said, grinning, then kissing him. "So trust me when I say, I'm in no hurry to rush our little girl."

"Copy that," Spike said, smiling and holding her gently close to him.

* * *

After a couple more trips up and down the stairs, Adele was getting tired. After another check of the baby's position, Adele's friend and chiropractor/masseuse, Judy, arrived to balance Adele, physically and emotionally, in order to finish the journey.

After an hour's massage and realignment from Judy, at 8:15, Adele was beginning to sense some unease within her birth team. It had been about nine hours since Lewis' birth. This was a new experience for everyone in the room. But after a short chat with Summer and Spike, Adele felt assured she was doing everything right.

"You and the baby are doing great," Summer assured her. "You are fine and she is fine. She's just not in a rush. Your body and your baby just needs more time to finish the work it was meant to do, that's all."

Adele nodded, feeling calmer about the whole situation.

* * *

Finally, at 9:12pm, Adele had a contraction that made her drop to her knees. Spike caught her just before she hit the floor. With the next contraction, her water broke. When the contraction ended, Summer quickly helped her into the pool, then checked the baby's position.

"Well, like it or not, this little girl is coming feet-first, fast," she announced to the room. "She's right there, Adele, I can feel her. She's got big feet. Next contraction, you will be having your baby."

"Really?" Adele asked, shocked and relieved.

"Really," Summer answered.

With the next contraction, Adele was pushing. Summer guided the baby girl's feet. In the next few seconds, she entered the world and let out her first cry the moment she hit the air and took her first breath. A few minutes later, Spike cut the cord.

Adele burst into tears and cried uncontrollably in Spike's arms, overjoyed that their daughter was finally here, safe, at home, at 9:14pm, about eleven hours after her brother.

"Got a name for this little one?" Cythera asked, holding up a birth certificate.

"Kanya Julianna Scarlatti," Adele said, smiling up at her best girlfriend. Jules smiled and wiped away more tears.

* * *

At 9:30pm, Mary left and Cythera and Summer got busy cleaning up.

Adele laid Kanya next to her brother. To her, it only felt right to reunite them as soon as possible, as she was sure they felt a sense of loss being apart. Lewis took another nap, after the reassurance that his sister had finally caught up with him.

Adele started Kanya's exam, as Lewis lay next to her. She was also perfectly healthy, 19 inches long and 6 pounds, 3 ounces. Both twins had inherited Spike's dimples.

Adele continued to cry uncontrollably with happiness and joy, as she held Kanya close to her. Kanya was here and their family was complete.

* * *

Over the next couple hours, Adele and Spike received instructions from Cythera and Summer on how to swaddle the babies in blankets, how to change diapers, and how to otherwise care for their newborn babies.

"What— a— crazy— day," Adele said wearily, punctuating each word with a pause in between.

"Copy that," Spike concurred, sighing happily with exhaustion. "Are you alright, sweetie?" he asked Adele.

"I'm wonderful, Spike," Adele responded, smiling. "I'm perfect. Look what we did. Thank you."

"Thank _you_," Spike replied, smiling and leaning down and kissing her.

With that, he walked over to the couch, collapsed onto it, and fell asleep.

"You should get some rest, too, while you can," said Summer. She and Cythera were about to leave. "You did so wonderfully today. I'm inspired."

"Really?" Adele asked her.

"Really," Cythera said, agreeing with Summer.

Adele smiled. "Thank you both so much," she said. "I couldn't have done this without you, without Mary, without everyone."

"No problem," said Summer. "Every birth is a different experience, even within a birth itself."

"Yeah, it's our job. If we didn't love it, we wouldn't be doing it," said Cythera, smiling.

Adele nodded. Cythera and Summer left after wishing Adele and a sleeping Spike good luck.

Jules and the others stood up and prepared to leave as well.

"We should get going, too," said Jules.

"Yeah," Stella agreed. "I need to get Kate back, since it's past her bedtime."

"OK," said Adele. "We'll call you guys in the morning, OK?"

"The team is going to be so excited to see the little ones," Jules gushed excitedly.

Adele smiled, as she said goodbye to her sister. After everyone had left, she carried the twins up to the nursery and laid them down to sleep. Then, after deciding not to wake Spike to have him come to bed, she settled into bed herself.

* * *

_And, finally, we have the end of chapter 11! I wasn't expecting it to be so long, but quite frankly, I tried two or three times to shorten things and the story just wouldn't let me. ;)_

_If you read it, leave a review!_


	12. A Burden We Choose to Carry

_Fun fact: Isabel Firefly Lane is exactly 36 days older than Lewis and Kanya! (I chose that as her middle name, since the producers never told us her real one; fitting, isn't it?) I recently realized this and found it to be cool. Funny how sometimes the stories write themselves, isn't it?_

_Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, alerted, or added this story to favorites so far._

_Here is chapter 12. Warning: spoilers (ranging from tiny to huge) for Shockwave (4.07) all the way through Day Game (4.14.) Venture forth carefully, if you haven't seen all of season 4._

_Here is chapter 12._

**Chapter 12**

* * *

The next day, the team arrived around Noon to the Scarlatti house. Soon, the living room was packed to the brim with Adele, Spike, the team, Shelley, Wordy's daughters, Sophie and one-month-old Isabel, and little Lewis and Kanya.

"Adele, those are such beautiful names," Greg told her. "Where did you come up with them?"

"Well, Lewis' is obvious," said Adele, looking around at the team. "We wanted to give them good strong Italian names, if we could. We found Enrico and it just clicked. I heard Kanya on a 'Nature' program about lions about a year ago and it stuck in my head."

"So was it an OK delivery and everything?" Winnie asked.

"Yeah," said Adele. "Lewis came so fast. One second, I'm having contractions and we're filling the birth pool in the morning. The next second, I'm on my side on our bed, with Jules behind me, and I'm pushing, and bam, he was here." Adele shook her head, smiling. "I had no chance to get in the pool. That boy was sure in a hurry."

"Well, he sure is a cutie, Adele," Sophie said, from where she and Shelley were playing with Lewis on the floor next to Ed and Wordy.

"Were you nervous about how long Kanya took to arrive?" Shelley asked, patting Kanya rhythmically as she slept.

"After a while, yeah," Adele answered. "But I talked with the midwives and Spike and they agreed that she was just taking her time. And I thought of my sister and me. Kate's water broke, then my mom developed a fever, so the doctors back then decided to take us both out at the same time, for safety, even though I checked out fine. But if I had had a choice in the matter, I would have had none of that!"

Laughs went around the room.

"So I knew there was no reason to rush her. I knew and Spike knew and the midwives knew she'd come on her own time."

"And Kanya is sure a beautiful girl," said Jules. "Whatever, regardless, twins are nothing to sneeze at."

"You're telling me," Adele said wearily, lying back fondly on Spike's lap.

"You two sure make cute babies," said Sophie, rocking one-month-old Isabel, "well done. Any plans on having any more anytime soon?"

Spike and Adele looked at each other, caught off-guard.

"Uh, _no!_" they responded simultaneously, making everyone laugh.

"I like to think Kanya and Isabel will have beauty contests when they get older, Sophie," Adele said. "What do you think?"

Sophie laughed. "I agree."

After a few minutes, it got quiet in the room, and Kanya made a face. For a moment, Adele thought she was going to start crying. Then, as Spike filmed, the newborn girl let out a baby sneeze.

Adele stared, open-mouthed, at the group, Spike, and the camera.

"I got that on video!" Spike whispered, grinning with elation, as he punched the air with his fist victoriously.

"Cutest thing ever," Jules said excitedly. Adele smiled.

A couple hours later, the babies began to fuss for real, needing a nap. Adele and Spike said goodbye to everyone, then went upstairs to the nursery to go lay the twins down in their cribs.

Adele sighed.

"Are you OK, babe?" Spike asked, putting his arms around her from behind.

"Yeah," said Adele. "I just never imagined myself being this happy. Having a man who loves me every minute of every day, being married, having a beautiful home, having babies. It's so surreal."

"Yeah, it is," Spike said, kissing her on the cheek. "I love you," he whispered into her ear.

"I love you, too," Adele whispered back, turning in his arms to hold him close.

* * *

Spring changed to summer, and with the steadily rising temperatures, the twins grew quickly. Lewis and Kanya had both inherited their parents' dark hair, but Kanya alone had inherited her mother's vivid green eyes. Lewis' eyes were dark brown, like his father's.

However, while the twins thrived and grew, Mr. Scarlatti's health continued to decline. A few days after the twins turned six months old, he took a turn for the worst and had to be hospitalized.

On August 19, Spike had been visiting him in the hospital, having a perfectly nice chat, when he had been forced to leave his dying father's bedside to respond to a bomb call.

Fortunately, all three bombs had been defused, with no fatalities and few casualties.

As soon as Ed and the team had pulled Spike up through the shaft and his feet were on the ground, amidst hugs, Spike looked at Greg.

"I gotta go..."

He had run from the scene and raced to the hospital in the SUV. His mother had kissed him tearfully and he had sat down next to the bedside and took his father's hand. A few minutes later, surrounded by his wife and son, Mr. Scarlatti had died.

Spike hugged his mother and kissed her cheek, before stepping out into the hallway and pulling out his cell phone.

"Hey, Adele, it's me," he said, when Adele answered on the other end.

"Hey, babe," she replied softly. "Any change?"

Spike's lip quivered and he swallowed a sob. "It's over. He's gone."

"Oh, Spike, I'm so sorry... Are you doing OK?"

"Yeah, I'm OK..."

"Do you want me to come?"

"No, thanks, it's OK. I've got my mom and someone's got to watch the twins."

"OK, well, my phone is on if you need to call, OK? Want me to wait up for you?"

"No. Um, actually, if it's OK, I'm going to spend tonight at home with my ma. She really needs me. I'm all she has left."

"OK. I love you."

"I love you, too."

Spike was given a week off for bereavement. When he wasn't helping Adele care for the twins, he spent as much time as possible with his mother, who was doing alright, considering the circumstances.

The next few months proved to be long ones. The team had to deal with some tough hot calls, including saving passenger hostages on a hijacked plane that landed; a masked gunman, who had abducted a victim, threatening a group of teenagers in the Don Valley ravine; a ransom drop gone wrong and a kidnapping.

Especially when it came to the tough calls that involved children, after the day finished and everyone went home, Spike turned to his family for support, holding Adele and his babies close.

* * *

Balancing fatherhood with work was one of the most difficult things for an SRU member and was never fun.

But for the past eight months, fatherhood had preceded work.

And right now, his little girl was quite sick. For the first several days, Spike and Adele had surmised it to be just the common cold, but it had now been holding on for several weeks. It seemed like every time Kanya took a breath, they could hear her wheeze.

It was November first and Spike and Adele were both scheduled to appear as guests at Donna Sabine's wedding. Despite the offerings of Mrs. Scarlatti and Adele's father, mother, and stepmother to babysit, neither Spike nor Adele wanted to leave the babies at home to attend. And Spike was on duty.

It took some convincing on Adele's part for Spike not to call in sick to work.

"Spike, you need to go," she said, cradling a crying Kanya in her arms.

"Adele, I'm not leaving here you alone to care for both of the twins, one of whom is sick right now," Spike argued with her.

"It's OK, Spike. My parents are a phone call away. And we have Natalie, too. Just have your phone on vibrate. I'll call if there's any change."

Spike sighed. "Alright, fine. Promise?"

"Promise," said Adele, then she leaned up to kiss him, before he went to go get ready.

* * *

Once Spike left for work, the day passed slowly, with Adele juggling caring for both twins at once, with Spike gone.

Shortly after 2pm, while Lewis napped, Adele ran the shower on the hottest temperature possible and filled the bathroom with steam, trying to open Kanya's breathing passages more.

When Kanya began to run a high fever that would not break, despite the administration of children's Tylenol, then her cough worsened and she refused to feed, Adele decided she had done all she could at home and, with a sleeping Lewis in tow, took Kanya to the emergency room.

Upon arriving to the emergency room, while waiting for a nurse to call Kanya's name, Adele pulled out her cell phone and left Spike a voicemail. Then she called Natalie.

"Natalie, it's Adele. I'm at the ER with the twins. Kanya's sick and I've tried everything. I can't take Lewis back into the ER. Can you come watch him while I'm in with Kanya and wait for Spike?"

"Sure, Adele, I'm on my way," said Natalie, before hanging up the phone.

She arrived twenty minutes later, just as Kanya's name was called.

"Hey," said Natalie to Adele, "what's going on?"

"I don't know," Adele responded. "Kanya's had a cold for several weeks and now she's spiking a fever and she won't eat or drink and she's wheezing really badly. I'm at my wits end."

"Well, the doctors will find out what's wrong," Natalie said. "I'm going to walk around with Lewis for a while. I have my phone. It'll be OK, Adele."

Adele nodded hurriedly, then, holding Kanya close, went with the nurse.

Back at SRU, the team was in the middle of debriefing, when Winnie interrupted them.

"Spike—" she began, but Ed cut her off.

"Winnie, not now," he said.

"Spike, it's Adele," Winnie said. "Kanya's in the ER."

* * *

3 missed calls.

Winnie stood next to Spike, while he took the call.

"Adele, I'm sorry, I was in lockdown, I missed the calls," Spike said.

"Spike, Kanya started running a fever and she won't eat or drink anything and she's having trouble breathing," Adele cried, on the other end of the line.

"OK, Adele, calm down. Of course, I'm on my way," Spike said, as calmly as he could, considering the news.

"OK. I love you," said Adele, between sobs.

"I love you, too, bye," said Spike, before hanging up and running to the SUV.

* * *

Natalie stood at the nurse's station, bouncing Lewis on her knee, waiting for Spike to arrive and for Adele to come back out and fill her in on what was happening.

Finally, Adele came back out to the waiting room, tears streaming down her face.

"What'd they say?" Natalie asked, standing up and propping Lewis against her hip.

"They're running tests," said Adele. "Nothing confirmed yet."

"Sit down, sweetie," said Natalie, pulling against Adele's arm with her free hand.

Adele sank into a chair next to Natalie and buried her face in her hands.

"Why is this happening? What did I do wrong?" she cried.

"You didn't do anything wrong, sweetie," said Natalie. "You did everything right. You brought her in when you ran out of options. The doctors will take care of her."

Sensing his mother's stress, Lewis began to cry. Adele took him into her arms and bounced him up and down, making soothing noises, for both their sakes.

A minute later, the automatic doors of the emergency room slid open and Spike came rushing into the waiting room.

"Adele," he said breathlessly, rushing up to hug and kiss her. "Any news?"

"No, they're running tests," Adele responded. "That's all I know." Spike nodded and sat down next to her. "She has to be OK, Spike. She just has to."

"She will be, babe," Spike said, tears sparkling in his eyes. "The doctors know what they're doing."

"Mr. and Mrs. Scarlatti?" a woman called out, glancing at a clipboard.

"Yes," Spike said, putting his arm around Adele and going over to the woman.

"I'm Doctor Walters. I'm the pediatric doctor working on your daughter," she said. "She was brought in with a 101-degree fever."

"What's wrong with her?" Adele asked, crying.

"Well, with the high fever and other symptoms, we think it's a severe case of RSV," Doctor Walters said. "RSV is short for respiratory syncytial virus. It's a variation of the common cold in newborns and infants and children up to age seven. It's fairly common, however that doesn't make it any less serious."

"Will she be alright?" Spike asked.

"We've admitted her to the NICU. We're doing everything possible right now, Mr. Scarlatti," Doctor Walters said. "But I'm not going to lie to you, in an infant less than a year old, this is very serious."

"What do you mean?" Adele asked.

"Even if we do get her fever down, there's still a possibility there might be brain damage."

"Oh, my God!" Adele exclaimed, crying into Spike's chest.

"I'm sorry. We're doing everything we can," said Doctor Walters. "You can go up to room 440, where she's going to get continued treatment, but I can't let you in to see her right now. I should get up there. I'll be in touch."

"It'll be OK," Natalie said, rubbing Adele's shoulder and back comfortingly, as the doctor turned and left.

"What if it's not?" Adele asked, looking up at Natalie. "It was hard enough, growing up with a sibling with special needs; I don't think I could handle my own daughter having special needs, too."

"You have to believe that it will be OK," Natalie said, hugging Adele. "Do you want me to call your folks? I'll meet you upstairs." Adele and Spike nodded and Natalie left to go make the phone call.

* * *

Adele and Spike took the elevator to the NICU on the fourth floor. There, they watched, as their baby girl fought for her life, hooked up to a host of machines, tubes, and wires. They could see Kanya had a C-PAP in her nose, providing her with continuous supplemental oxygen, and she was hooked up to several IVs, to provide fluids, medications, and missing nutrients.

Ed, Greg, Jules, Sam, Wordy and Winnie had all arrived to the hospital within the hour. Ed and Wordy stayed as long as they could, but eventually, they had to return home to their families. Greg and Sam stayed for a few hours, but then Adele insisted they should go home. Jules and Winnie, however, refused to leave and stayed the entire night, alternating sleeping in chairs or on the floor. There were too many of them to bring in more than one roll-away bed.

At just about 1am, Doctor Walters looked at Adele and Spike.

"When's the last time you two got a full night's sleep?"

Adele and Spike looked at each other, grimaced, then shook their heads and shrugged.

"You should go home, especially since you still have Lewis to care for. It's not just the sick patients who need to be taken care of," said Doctor Walters. "I promise I'll call when there's any change."

Adele looked up wearily at Spike, then at the doctor, and she nodded. They readied Lewis in his carrier to leave, then went home.

* * *

On November 15, two weeks into Kanya's hospital stay, a change in her condition finally occurred. Her fever broke and her breathing was slowly becoming easier.

Adele took the day off work to care for Lewis at home and to also get some rest, before Kanya was due to be discharged and come home the next day. Steps needed to be taken to extend more care to Kanya for a few more days, once she came home, before she would finally be given a clean bill of health.

That same day, the team responded to a hot call, a knife-wielding robber who had taken a hostage. The situation had turned bloody when a security guard tried to play hero.

That night, Adele jolted awake to find Spike's side of the bed cold and barely touched. She climbed out of bed and went next door to the nursery, but Lewis' crib was empty. She went downstairs and found Spike passed out on the couch, with Lewis sleeping in his carrier beside him.

She sat down next to him on the couch and gently shook him. He groaned as he awoke.

"Adele?" he murmured.

"Shh," said Adele, pushing his hair out of his eyes. "What are you doing?"

"Lewis started crying and I didn't want to wake you," said Spike, sitting up quietly, so as not to disturb the sleeping infant.

"Spike, you're exhausted. He's fine now. Let's go put him in his crib and you come to bed," said Adele.

Spike nodded, then took Lewis out of his carrier. Adele put it in the living room, then followed Spike upstairs to the nursery. Lewis didn't waken as they laid him on his back and tucked him into bed. Then they went next door to their bedroom and got into bed.

Adele could tell Spike did not fall asleep right away by the way his breathing remained uneven.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked, rolling over to face him.

"Today at work," Spike said. "It didn't go well."

"What happened?"

Spike quickly filled Adele in on the day's hot call and how things had progressed from bad to the worst.

"I'm sorry, babe," said Adele. "But you can't save everyone. It's just not possible."

"I know," Spike said. "It's not that. I've never seen the Sarge so vulnerable before, so distraught afterward. None of us have. It was even worse than when Lou died. I mean, everyone has their weaknesses and no one can withstand everything that is thrown at them like that, but we'd never expected it to come from him like that. Everything was entirely too personal for him. He wasn't negotiating; he was ripped into and fighting for his life.

"He said too much. I wanted to destroy the audio drive, to protect him, to protect his job, but Ed wouldn't let me, even though he understood my intentions."

Adele nodded. "He did everything he could possibly do to try and save Gill. It wasn't enough, but that wasn't his fault. It never gets easier," she said. "For at least a little while, Greg is going to need you and the rest of the team more than he ever has before."

"How do you do it?" Spike asked her.

"How do I do what?" Adele asked.

"How do you and Shelley and Sophie, how do you deal with what your husbands do for a living? How can you bear seeing me go out the door every morning, not knowing if I will walk back through it that night?" Spike asked her. "I can't imagine how brave you must have to be every day, to put up with all of it."

Adele shrugged. "You saw how I was when Kanya was in the E.R. I'm not always as strong as you think I am."

"You don't have to be strong all the time," Spike said. "That's such a burden to carry."

"It's a burden I choose to carry," said Adele. "Or I wouldn't be here, the twins wouldn't be here, we wouldn't be here, right now. It's a burden Shelley and Sophie choose to carry, too. No one can make the decision for us and no one can take it away from us, not without a fight, anyway."

Spike nodded.

"Greg will be OK," said Adele. "He's got his entire team to lean on, who leans on him when they need to. It won't get easier, but it will get better. It'll always be OK in the end, and if it's not OK, it's not the end."

"Very true," Spike agreed. He kissed her forehead. "I love you."

"Get some sleep. I love you, too," Adele said, snuggling close to him before they both fell asleep.

* * *

_As always, please review. Happy Summer Solstice! I'll post chapter 13 ASAP._


	13. Shattered

_An appearance of a former character from the show in this chapter, just because I can, lol. Happy Reading._

**Chapter 13**

* * *

On November 22, in the early morning, Adele awoke to a kiss on her cheek from Spike. It wasn't quite 3:30am.

"Hey," she whispered, "what are you doing up so early?"

"Sorry, babe, gotta go in early today," Spike said, "escorting a high-risk target."

"Did you feed the twins?" Adele asked.

"Yeah, fed them, changed them, then they went right back to sleep," said Spike, smiling down at her. "They're such good babies."

"Yeah, they are," Adele said, smiling.

Spike smiled. Both parents were very happy that Kanya had been home for almost a week and was thriving again.

Adele walked with Spike downstairs to the front door, then they exchanged a long hug and a kiss.

"Be careful today," she said to him.

"Always am," Spike promised her, before heading out the door.

* * *

Adele rushed through the front doors of the hospital as quickly as she could, two weeks later. Spike had sent her a text, asking her to meet him at the hospital. He hadn't said why. As quickly as she could, she had dropped the twins off at her mother's house, then headed to the hospital. She was worried something had happened to him.

"Michelangelo Scarlatti," she said breathlessly to the admitting nurse.

The nurse checked her book, then shook her head. "I'm sorry," she said, confused, "we don't have anyone admitted under that name."

"What? But that's impossible. He has to be here," Adele said, confused. "Maybe he's listed as Spike?"

"I'm sorry, I don't have anyone listed with the surname Scarlatti," said the nurse.

"I don't understand," Adele said, worried. But then she heard someone say her name.

"Adele," said Ed, walking up to her.

"Ed," Adele said, rushing over to him. "I got Spike's text. Is he OK? What happened?"

"Calm down, Adele," Ed said steadily, placing his hands on her shoulders. "It's not Spike, it's Jules. Come on."

He put his arm around her and they walked toward the elevator. They took the elevator to the third floor. The team was standing outside room 3110.

"Spike," Adele said breathlessly, going over to him. "How is she?"

"She's stable," Spike said, pulling Adele into his arms and kissing her forehead. "She's gonna make it."

"What happened?" Adele asked, looking at the team.

"Long story short, a lab with anthrax was broken into. Hostages were taken. Jules was negotiating," said Ed. "A scientist grabbed the hostage's second gun and it went off when Jules tackled her. There was an explosion and a piece of shrapnel hit Jules in the arm, hitting an artery. She lost a lot of blood, but she's gonna make it."

"She's been asking for you," said Greg.

"Thanks, Greg," said Adele, before knocking and going into Jules' room.

"Hey," Adele murmured softly, going to the side of the bed and leaning down to hug her very carefully. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright," Jules assured her. "Third pint," she added, gesturing to the bag of blood hanging from the I.V. pole. "And they've started the second antibiotic for the anthrax exposure already."

"Good," said Adele, looking at the bandage on her arm. "How many stitches?"

"Three inside, seven to close," Jules answered, wrinkling her nose. "Gonna leave a nasty scar."

"Scars are beautiful," said Adele, fingering her small scar on the left side of her neck. "They make people real. They're proof that people have stories to tell."

Jules smiled appreciatively. "I've never thought of it that way. How did you get yours?"

"This one's from an I.V. line," said Adele, taking her hand away from her neck. "The one on my head and the one on my stomach are from my shunt implantation at birth." Though she wasn't uncomfortable talking about it, Adele changed the subject. "When are they letting you go home?"

"Tomorrow," Jules replied, watching her warily. "I've been good, so they're reducing my sentence."

Adele smiled, glad to see Jules still had her sense of humor.

After some time, Adele could see Jules was fighting the need to sleep.

"We'll let you rest," said Adele, leaning down to gently hug Jules again. "Shoot me a text when you get out tomorrow and are settled back in at home."

"Copy that," Jules said, smiling.

Adele smiled at her best girlfriend, before taking Spike's hand and leaving the room.

* * *

The team decided to debrief in the morning, so after turning over their weapons and changing out of their gear, everyone went home. With the twins staying with Adele's father and stepmother, Spike and Adele had the house to themselves for the first time in over a year. Walking in together, it was uncomfortably quiet.

Spike noticed the look on Adele's face. "You OK?"

Adele shook her head. "I'm exhausted," she said. "You really scared me today."

"I'm sorry," Spike said. "I should have explained that it wasn't me. I didn't mean to scare you."

Adele nodded, as Spike pulled her into his arms.

"I mean, I feel bad for saying I'm glad it wasn't you, but I'm not thrilled it was Jules, either," said Adele. "This isn't the first time she's gotten hurt. I can't help but worry if the next time is going to be the last."

"Adele..." Spike said, looking down at her. He pulled her closer to him.

He was taken aback when she pulled away sharply.

"No, Spike, don't," she pleaded with him, "not right this second. You will just make me forget what I need to say, and I need to say it. I need to get this out. It's making me nuts, pretending everything's OK when it's not, when we are just able to get away from it for a little while."

"What would you rather do?" Spike asked, unopposed. "Live in fear? That's no way to live. When something bad happens, you can approach it one of three ways: you can let it define you, let it destroy you, or let it strengthen you."

Adele nodded in agreement. "I know, Spike, it's just hard sometimes."

"Well, someone very wise once told me that it's a burden she chooses to carry," said Spike. "But you don't have to carry it alone. Toth asked Ed who he turns to when cases get hard: his team. If he can't turn to his team, he turns to his family. We all do. We all lean on each other whenever we need to. It's a two-way street. You don't always have to be so strong, you know."

"Oh yes, I do," Adele murmured, before tears welled up in her eyes and spilled over.

Spike gently wiped away her tears with the pad of his thumb and kissed her tenderly.

"I think I know of something that might make you feel better," Spike said, looking down at her. "But you're having a hard time right now and I don't want to pressure you."

"Babe, if you're asking me whether or not I want to be with you, the answer is, of course I do," Adele responded. "Between the twins and the team and my job, we haven't had any time to be alone since our wedding night. We might not have another chance for a while. I want to be with you as long as I can. That's all I want."

"Are you sure?"

"Why not? Come on, before I change my mind or start to feel guilty. If we do it now, it will convince me that it's not all bad and that life does go on."

Spike swallowed, then nodded. Adele grabbed him by his jacket collar and pulled him, laughing, over to their bed. Spike lifted her gently onto the bed and they playfully removed each other's' clothes, before making love. Spike supported his weight on his elbows and was extra careful not to hurt Adele.

When they were finished, they lay in bed together, holding each other, both exhausted, but very much in love.

"I love you, Michelangelo Dominic Scarlatti," Adele whispered.

"I love you, too, Adele Karis Scarlatti," Spike murmured, kissing her forehead and snuggling up to her, as they both fell asleep.

* * *

December 17, 2011 dawned unusually warm and abuzz with activity. It had snowed a few inches, but the warm spell quickly turned the puffy white snow into grey-brown slush on the streets and left the grass unusually green. Visitors were getting in some holiday shopping and were soaking up the holiday cheer, with festivals, Christmas lights, and displays around the city.

The team decided to get together to have their own Christmas lunch at Serra Ristorante, before they would head home to spend the rest of the day with their families.

As everyone was arriving, Spike's cell phone went off. He excused himself to answer it.

"Hey, babe, where are you?"

"Sorry, I stopped to get some cash before the bank closed. I should be there in about 15 minutes," said Adele.

"Alright, I'll see you soon," Spike said.

"Alright, bye, I love you," said Adele, before hanging up.

She stopped at the stop sign, then eased the car forward. Out of nowhere, a black car blazed through their stop sign, slamming into the driver's side door, pushing Adele's blue Camry ten feet before the car skidded to a stop. In an instant, everything went black.

* * *

As she slipped in and out of consciousness, Adele was aware of only one thing: the sound of her babies crying in the back seat. She tried to move, to get to them, but she was paralyzed, pinned underneath the crushed dashboard.

The car was a disaster. Shards of glass were strewn everywhere, from the cracked windshield, windows, and the shattered headlights. The doors were so smashed together, it couldn't be discerned where the door began and the car's body ended.

Through her ringing ears, Adele heard sirens and fire truck horns blaring. Her vision blurry, she still made out flashing ambulance and police lights before she slipped out of consciousness again.

* * *

Spike checked his watch for the thirteenth time since Adele had called. She was nearly an hour overdue since she had called and told him it would be twenty minutes.

"How long did Adele say she would be?" Jules asked, seeing Spike began to grow restless.

"It's three-fifteen. She had to be at the bank before it closed at two. She's over an hour late. That's not like Adele," Spike said worriedly. "She's never late."

"She'll be here, Spike, don't worry," Jules said, squeezing his shoulders reassuringly.

Spike's cell phone went off. He knocked over his chair in his haste to dig into his jeans pocket and answer it.

"7122," he murmured with surprise, when he recognized the number. He looked at Ed, who was also looking concerned. "That's Rolie. Hey, Rolie, what's up?"

"Hey, Spike, man," said Rolie, though his grave tone of voice did not match his casual choice of greeting. "Listen, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but I'm the police first-responder at the scene of a car accident. You gotta get down here, it's Adele."

"Oh, my God," Spike exclaimed, clutching the phone closer. "Is she alright? The twins are with her! Are they OK?"

"Just get down here, Spike, it's bad."

"I'm on my way," Spike said, before hanging up and throwing on his jacket.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, where are you going?" Ed asked, stopping Spike before he could bolt.

"Adele's been in a car accident," Spike explained breathlessly. "The twins are with her! I have to go!"

"We're coming with you," said Jules.

"All of us," Sophie said quickly.

"No, we can't all go," said Greg. "Sophie, Shelley, take the kids home. We'll call as soon as we know anything. Spike, Ed, you're with me. Jules, Raf, go with Sam. Let's go."

* * *

The team arrived at the scene as quickly as they could. Police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances were everywhere. Spike immediately tried to run toward the totaled Camry, but was held back by local police officers.

"Let me through! My wife's in that car!" Spike yelled in anguish, at the police officers who held him back. "Our kids are in the back seat! Please, let me see them!"

"You can't, sir," said one of the police officers, a man. "We can't even get to her yet. You'll only be in the way."

"Please stay back, sir," said another police officer, a woman. "We need to get them out of the car, so the EMTs can attend to them."

"Rolie," said Ed, still holding tightly onto Spike, as the sergeant came forward, "what do you know?"

"Both air bags blew," said Rolie. "We found her cell phone outside the car and called the last number she had called— luckily, it was you."

"How's the other driver?" Ed asked. Feeling Spike finally relax, he released his iron hold on the distraught husband.

"Just banged up, reeks of booze."

The fire chief came forth and talked with Rolie.

"We gotta cut her out," said the fire chief.

"What about the Jaws of Life?" Spike asked.

"We're on it, but we gotta stabilize her head and neck first."

The firefighters deflated all four tires with a tire iron, then an EMT reached in and hooked up an I.V. line to Adele.

"Heart rate's up," he said. "She's still unconscious." As carefully and quickly as she could, he slipped a C-Spine brace around Adele's neck. Then he took off his jacket and covered Adele's face with it.

"OK, we're gonna take the roof off now," said the fire chief. "There's gonna be a lot of noise, but Adele and the kids aren't in any danger."

Spike nodded, then watched as the machine slowly cut into where the roof met the doors, then they pulled off the roof. There was more cutting, then Adele's legs were free.

"Alright, she's free. We're bringing in the long spine board," said the EMT.

With the help of two other EMTs, they slid the board underneath Adele's back and strapped her in, then lifted Adele out of the car. They quickly and carefully loaded her into the waiting ambulance.

Spike could only watch as two more EMTs carefully lifted out the carriers, then loaded the infants into another ambulance.

"Are they hurt?" Spike demanded.

"They seem fine, just scared, but we'd like to take them to the E.R. and check them out anyway," the EMT explained. "It's purely protocol."

Spike nodded numbly.

"Spike," Jules said, placing her hand on his arm and beginning to pull Spike away, "come on. There's nothing more we can do here. We need to meet them at the hospital. Come on."

For a moment, Spike resisted, but then he allowed Jules to pull him away.

* * *

Not wasting any time, they immediately drove to the hospital. Spike raced up to the admitting desk and demanded to see Adele and the twins.

"Adele— Scarlatti," he said breathlessly. "Lewis and— Kanya Scarlatti. They were just brought in— accident victims."

A nurse consulted her computer, then looked up. "If they were just brought in, you can't see them yet," she said. "I'll send someone out to let you know when you can see her. Are you family?"

"I'm her husband and those are my babies in there, so yeah, I'm family!" Spike yelled, slamming his fist down on the desk.

"Spike," Jules said, coming over to him and taking his hand in hers, "come on, you need to sit down. I'm sorry," she added to the nurse, who nodded understandingly. "Sit down, Spike."

Spike did as he was told, then buried his face in his hands.

"Jules, what if she doesn't make it?" Spike asked.

"She'll make it, Spike," Jules said. "She's a fighter."

Spike nodded, before sinking back into his chair in exhaustion.

Finally, a nurse called Adele's name. The team stood up and followed her back to Adele's room.

"There's not enough room for all of you at once," said the nurse, when they reached Adele's room, at the very end of the hall, "so maybe just a few of you for now."

Greg looked at Wordy, Raf, and Ed, who nodded in silent agreement.

"Go tell her we love her," said Ed.

Spike smiled, then entered the room with Winnie and Jules. A few steps into the room, Spike froze and the color drained from his face. He wasn't prepared to see his wife lying in the hospital bed, like she was, unconscious, with tubes and wires everywhere, monitoring different vital stats and providing her with lost fluids and other nourishments and medications.

Winnie grasped Spike by his shoulders and pulled him over to a chair.

"Sit down," she said firmly, "before you fall down." Spike wearily obeyed.

"A doctor will be in shortly to talk with you," the nurse said kindly, before leaving the room.

"Thank you," said Jules to the nurse.

Spike pulled up a chair next to Adele's bed and looked long and hard at her. Gauze pads covered the deeper cuts on her bruised face; others were just covered in medical tape or bandages. A large bandage encircled her head. She had a nasal cannula helping her receive more oxygen, although she was breathing just fine on her own.

Several minutes later, a doctor knocked on the door and entered the room.

"Good afternoon," he said, "I'm Doctor Moore, the main physician attending to Mrs. Scarlatti."

"Is she gonna be alright?" Spike asked, looking pleadingly at the doctor. "Just tell us she's gonna be OK."

"She lost a lot of blood at the scene," said Doctor Moore. "Her left leg was broken when the other car hit hers. She also has a broken rib and various cuts and bruises."

Spike and the others nodded, waiting for more.

"The injury we're most concerned about, however, is her fractured skull," said Doctor Moore. "We were able to relieve the pressure from her brain swelling for now, but if it happens again, we may not be so lucky. And we have no idea when she'll regain consciousness. When she wakes, we'll do tests to determine for brain damage. She may not remember what happened or know who any of you are. But retrograde amnesia is usually temporary."

Everyone nodded, then the doctor smiled.

"On the other hand, I do have some good news," he said, opening the door and beckoning to someone out in the hallway. Ed and Wordy entered the room, holding Lewis and Kanya. Raf entered in behind them, carrying both car seats. "We checked out the twins and they are both perfectly fine. While I suggest you get the car seats replaced as soon as possible, they are free to go home tonight."

Spike grinned and took Kanya from Ed's arms.

"Hey, how's my little girl?" he said to her, kissing her chubby cheek and holding her close. "Daddy's here now. I gotcha. It's gonna be OK now."

Doctor Moore smiled. "You all should go home and get some rest. I promise to call as soon as there's any change. But there's nothing more you can do here."

Spike and the others nodded, then loaded Lewis and Kanya into the car seats and left the hospital.

* * *

_If you read it, leave a review! Thanks for sticking with me. I'll post up chapter 14 ASAP. It will probably be the last chapter._


	14. Epilogue

_Just a quick disclaimer: I don't own the borrowed bit from "If I Stay," by Gayle Forman (a novel.) Here's the epilogue. It's short, but satisfactory, I think. Happy Reading._

**Chapter 14: Epilogue**

* * *

The steady beep of the heart monitor was the only thing that interrupted the dead silence in Adele's hospital room. Adele's parents, stepparents, sister, and mother-in-law had already been by to see her.

A thought occurred to Spike, and as soon as Doctor Moore came in to check on Adele, he asked, "Doctor, is she in pain?"

"It's hard to know, except that we monitor her blood pressure, which is fairly normal," said Doctor Moore. "So I'd say, she may be hurting, but we have her on painkillers already, so I don't think she's in excruciating pain, now that she is stable and recovering."

Spike sighed with relief. "Good."

Doctor Moore nodded. "I have to go check on my other patients, but I'll check back in periodically. If you notice anything significant in my absence, press the call button and a nurse will come assist you."

"Alright, thank you," said Spike, nodding and returning his attention to playing with his children. "I need a Valium, Boss."

"I know, Spike," Greg said softly.

* * *

About an hour later, a nurse named Kari knocked and entered the room.

"How's she doing?" Kari asked conversationally, as she checked Adele's vitals.

"No change," said Spike.

"You've still got time," Kari said quietly.

"She has to wake up, Kari," Spike said pleadingly. "She has two beautiful children she loves. We have each other. She told me she's never been happier."

Kari nodded, smiling. "Her vitals are improving. That's encouraging. We usually suggest to visitors to talk to the unconscious patients they're visiting. Sometimes it's been said that unconscious patients can 'hear' and 'see' things before they wake. Give it a try. I'll leave you alone for a while."

"OK," said Spike, smiling. He watched Kari leave, then turned his attention to Adele. "Adele, it's Spike. If you can hear me, babe, please listen. You have to wake up. You have to make it through this. Lewis and Kanya are just starting to attempt to walk. You can't miss that. Our babies need you." His voice trailed off to a whisper. "I need you..."

Spike squeezed Adele's hand fondly. As he did so, Doctor Moore appeared in the doorway.

"Mr. Scarlatti," said Doctor Moore, "a Sergeant Roland Cray is here to speak with you."

"Oh, Rolie," Spike said breathlessly, before walking out into the hallway. "Rolie, you wanted to see me?"

"I have an update," said Rolie. "We have the other driver in custody. Her tox screen also came back. It was clean."

"'Clean?'" Spike echoed. "I could have told you she doesn't do drugs!"

"Spike, don't be mad at me, man," said Rolie patiently. "I'm just doing my job. I couldn't ignore protocol."

Spike sighed. "No, no, you're right," he said. "I'm sorry."

Rolie nodded. "We'll talk in the morning about pressing charges," he said.

"Well, why wait 'til the morning?" Spike asked. At the look Rolie gave him, he nodded slowly. "I'm sorry. I'm just tired."

"Well, chin up, Spike," said Rolie. "She's gonna make it."

"Thanks, Rolie," Spike said. "I'd better get back in there."

Rolie nodded and clapped Spike fondly on the shoulder. "Go," he said, before Spike turned and went back into the room.

"Sorry, babe, Rolie came and wanted to talk to me," said Spike, when he returned to Adele's bedside. Ed and Jules brought over the twins and helped them to sit on the bed, next to their father. Recognizing their mother's still form, they made noises of acknowledgement and gently touched her face with their small pudgy hands.

Spike gently caressed Adele's hand with his thumb, not taking his eyes off her.

"Babe, come back to me... I want you to come back more than I've ever wanted anything in my life. But that's just what I want and I wanted you to know what I want. It's up to you now."

Spike swallowed hard past the lump in his throat, then squeezed her hand again, before sighing and looking away.

His heart leaped a second later, when he felt Adele, ever so slightly, squeeze back.

Spike hardly dared believe it. He squeezed Adele's hand a second time and felt it again: Adele had squeezed his hand.

"I'll be right back," Spike said breathlessly.

After handing the twins off to Ed and Jules, he bolted out of the room. He came back in shortly after, Kari the nurse behind him. A few minutes later, Doctor Moore entered the room and quickly evaluated Adele.

"You're right, Spike," said Doctor Moore, "Adele is waking up."

Spike's breath quickened as he once again sat on the edge of Adele's bed and took her hand.

A few minutes later, Adele stirred and her eyes fluttered open.

"Hey," Spike said, smiling down at her. He looked deep into her eyes, searching for any sign of recognition. He gently caressed her hand. "Adele? Say something, babe."

Adele slowly spoke. "Hey," she said softly.

Spike heaved a deep sigh of relief. "Thank God," he said, and he pressed a kiss to her bandaged forehead. "You're alright."

"Where am I?" Adele asked, looking around in confusion.

"You're in a hospital, Mount Sinai Medical Center," said Doctor Moore. "I'm Doctor Moore. You were in an accident."

"I remember."

"Good," said Doctor Moore. "Most people never remember the trauma."

"I went to the bank," said Adele. As realization hit her, she began to break down. "I shouldn't have gone to the bank..."

"No. No," Spike said, shaking his head, "it's not your fault. It's not your fault. Calm down." He pressed his forehead against hers. "I love you."

"I love you, too," said Adele, her voice barely audible.

Doctor Moore had Adele do a few simple movements for him. Then he asked, "Do you recognize these people? Point to them and tell me their names."

Adele slowly raised her right arm and pointed. "Ed. Jules. Greg. Sam. Raf. Wordy. Spike. Lewis. Kanya."

Doctor Moore smiled. "Good," he said. "You're doing fine. But for now, I need to kick everyone out but your husband and children. You need to rest."

Adele lay against her pillows, exhausted. "Alright," she agreed.

The team said their goodbyes, then, with plans to take the twins to Adele's mother's house for a couple days, and her husband by her side, Adele fell asleep.

* * *

Adele slept most of the next day. When she was awake, Spike brought in her IPod and played some of her favorite songs from it. Despite that her voice was too hoarse to sing along, Adele clearly enjoyed it.

* * *

A week after the accident, Adele's CAT scan results had come back; the swelling was returning to normal. She was still sleeping a lot; however, Doctor Moore assured Spike and the others that this was normal, as her brain was still "waking up."

* * *

Two weeks after the accident, Adele had been moved to rehab. She was relearning how to walk on her broken leg, talking, and remembering things with every new day. She was eating well and drinking as much water as she could stand. She was now going to have therapy two hours a day for six weeks, before the cast came off.

Spike stayed with Adele as often as he could. Although her skull fracture was healing normally, she occasionally suffered from debilitating headaches that left her unable to do anything but lie on the couch, alternating heat pads with ice packs. Fortunately, she found a medication that, when taken daily, would keep the headaches at bay, and she was able to return to her job. Every day was a lesson for everyone.

* * *

Three weeks following the accident, the team visited Adele in rehab. Adele was continuing relearning to use her broken left leg to walk, and she had now graduated from a walker to crutches to a cane. She was still wobbly sometimes, but with weight-lifting exercises, she gained strength every day.

Adele hobbled most of the way over to Jules, then stopped a few feet away to try and take some steps toward her. Her leg shook, still weak, and she stumbled, but Jules caught her.

"Hey, girl," said Jules, "how are you feeling?"

"Not bad," said Adele, hobbling over to a bench with Jules beside her and sinking down onto it in exhaustion. "What are you all doing here?"

"Surprising you, of course," Ed said, smiling. He produced two boxes, one larger than the other.

"For me?" Adele asked, smiling.

Ed smiled and she opened the two boxes. The smaller of the two held freshly-made Fettuchini alfredo with Kielbasa sausage, Adele's favorite food. The other, bigger, box held a large chocolate cake, complete with green frosting words.

Adele looked up at the team. "This is great, you guys," she said, "thank you."

"You're welcome," said Jules. "You keep improving, OK? You're so strong. You're doing great."

"Thanks, I will," said Adele.

"When do you go home?" Greg asked.

"One week," Adele responded.

"That's a while," said Wordy.

"Yeah, well, maybe it's like jail time and I'll get time taken off for good behavior." Adele grinned.

Everyone laughed.

"Maybe," Ed teased her. "You know you would make awful jail bait."

"Don't I know it," Adele agreed, smiling. "It's good to see all of you."

"You too," they replied, smiling.

* * *

Finally, a week later, Adele got to officially go home. Her EEG came back completely normal. The swelling of her brain had gone down and stayed that way. She had made incredible progress in her rehabilitation with, luckily, no setbacks.

Adele was glad to go home to her and Spike's house. She was also glad to be able to sleep in her own bed for the first time in a month.

A welcome-home party was held at SRU Headquarters, with the entire team, and the twins, present.

Jules stood up and everyone fell silent, as she prepared to propose a toast.

"I'll keep this short," she said, smiling. "Adele, you're my best friend. We could never stop being friends, because I know too much. Maybe I should get paid damages, I dunno." Jules grinned, as a laugh went around the room, at the remark. Adele playfully stuck her tongue out at Jules. "I know you're now happier than you've ever been. I'm just glad I'm able to say this at your welcome-home party and not your funeral. Welcome home, Adele. I look forward to all the future moments."

Ed raised his glass. "To Adele."

"Adele," everyone echoed, lifting their glasses and drinking.

"And if I may add, to Lou," Spike added, standing up. Everyone was somber, listening. "He left us too soon. We'll all miss him as long as we live. I'm sure he was watching over you that day, babe, protecting you. To keeping the peace. To Lou."

"Lou," everyone echoed, lifting their glasses and drinking the last of their champagne.

* * *

_As always, if you read it, don't forget to leave a review to tell me what you thought._

_I'd like to dedicate this story to AuntMingy, who has been there for me, both as a reviewer and a friend, since the beginning and stuck with me all this time. You rock! And a special thanks to my beta, CytheraofNaxon, without whom, this story might not be finished._

_I don't think there will be a multi-chapter sequel to this story, so I'm just going to leave it up to your imaginations, as to what happens. It's a lot of work, writing kids growing up, and I just don't have the time right now. Maybe someday. Just wanted to mention that._

_Thank you all for the reviews, alerts, and favorites. I really appreciate it. I only wish I had the time and energy to return the favor and R&R for all of you entirely._

_Keep an eye out for a future "Flashpoint" story from me, as of yet untitled, focused around 4x17, "Priority of Life." It will be Jam-heavy and intense, I guarantee! A few more non-spoilerish details are on my profile. I don't plan on posting it until it's finished (famous last words... haha), but we'll see. I have a lot of research to read through, before I even begin writing. So look out for it!_

_Alright, that's all folks!_

_Until next time, lots of love,_

_horseaholic_


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